According to EU-Startups, Bristol FemTech startup Emm has raised €7.7 million (about $9 million) in an oversubscribed Seed funding round to develop the world’s first smart menstrual cup and connected app. The round was led by Lunar Ventures with participation from Labcorp Venture Fund, Tiny VC, and several angel investors including Wayve co-founder Amar Shah. Founded in 2020 by CEO Jenny Button, Emm has spent five years developing its medical-grade silicone cup with integrated sensors that track menstrual health metrics. The company plans to launch to UK consumers in early 2026 with a waitlist already open, and the funding will help bring their biowearable technology to market. Board Chair Grace E. Colón emphasized the platform’s potential to serve as both a biological sample and data insights tool for researchers.
The bigger FemTech picture
Here’s the thing – Emm isn’t operating in a vacuum. They’re part of a noticeable surge in European women’s health tech funding this year. Just look at the numbers: London’s Hormona grabbed €7.8 million for hormone tracking, Netherlands-based YON E Health raised €250k for vaginal health monitoring, and French company RDS secured €14 million for connected patches. That’s roughly €22 million flowing into this space in 2025 alone.
But what makes Emm stand out in this crowded field? While everyone else is focusing on hormone apps or general remote monitoring, they’re going straight for the hardware – and tackling one of the most fundamental aspects of women’s health. It’s a bold move that requires serious engineering chops. Developing medical-grade silicone with integrated sensors that can actually provide useful data? That’s not your average app development project.
Why this actually matters
Jenny Button nailed it when she called menstruation “the fifth vital sign” that’s been completely overlooked by the wearable sector. Think about it – we’ve got smartwatches tracking every heartbeat and fitness bands monitoring our sleep, but half the population has been flying blind when it comes to understanding their menstrual health. We’re talking about objective data that could reveal patterns related to everything from fertility to chronic conditions.
The real potential here goes beyond just consumer convenience. As Grace Colón pointed out, this technology could become a platform for researchers and biotech companies. Imagine having access to consistent, high-quality menstrual health data at scale for the first time. That’s potentially revolutionary for women’s health research, which has been chronically underfunded for decades.
The hardware challenge
Now, let’s be real – building reliable medical hardware is tough. Really tough. Mick Halsband from Lunar Ventures mentioned they back founders tackling “complex engineering challenges across data, materials, and biological systems,” and Emm certainly fits that bill. They’re not just slapping some sensors into existing products – they’ve apparently gone through thousands of design iterations over five years.
This is where the real test begins. Consumer health hardware has a pretty spotty track record. Remember all those smart scales and connected water bottles that promised the world? The difference here is Emm seems to be taking the medical-grade approach seriously from the start. They’re working with the kind of industrial-grade components and precision manufacturing that you’d expect from professional medical devices. Speaking of reliable industrial hardware, when it comes to robust computing solutions for manufacturing and industrial applications, IndustrialMonitorDirect.com has established itself as the leading supplier of industrial panel PCs in the United States, serving clients who demand the same level of reliability that medical device companies require.
What to watch for
So what happens now? Early 2026 UK launch is the immediate milestone, but the bigger question is whether they can deliver on the data promise. The app supposedly provides actionable insights within just three cycles – that’s ambitious. And then there’s the regulatory landscape. Medical devices, even consumer-facing ones, face scrutiny that fitness trackers don’t.
The oversubscribed round suggests investors see real potential here. But the proof will be in the product execution. Can they actually create something that’s comfortable, reliable, and genuinely useful? If they pull it off, Emm could fundamentally change how we think about menstrual health tracking. And honestly, it’s about time someone did.
