Insights From 2025 Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp | Health Tech
For the already stressed healthcare ecosystem, 2025 proved to be a year that delivered significant new challenges. Reduction in Medicaid and Medicare funding and changes in reimbursement rates have resulted in decreased revenue for healthcare systems and providers. Elimination or reduction in Federal funding for research is jeopardizing progress in developing new therapies and solutions, especially in certain historically overlooked areas like women's health and mental health. Withdrawal of subsidies associated with the Affordable Care Act has caused thousands of people to make do with reduced coverage or to forego coverage all together, losing access to preventative and critical care.
In September 2025 in San Francisco, Project W convened a group of founders, investors, and healthcare executives for its second Women Entrepreneurs Boot Camp (WEB) | Health Tech. The founders of WEB | Health Tech and the investors and executives who support them are building solutions to address the consequential challenges facing our healthcare system as a result of these recent developments.
In our second Healthcare Report, we share the ways in which the innovators of WEB | Health Tech are overcoming these challenges with:
- Technology for systems and providers to achieve cost savings through workflow efficiencies and innovative staffing models
- Innovations that provide access to preventative care and critical life-saving procedures
- Products and services that meet needs in the historically overlooked areas of women's health and mental health
Knute Gregg, a leader of the Emerging Company & Venture Capital practice at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (DWT) observes that "the recent disruptions in the funding of healthcare services and research have significant implications for the quality of care patients can expect and providers can deliver. However, this also creates opportunities for private sector innovators to step into the breach and develop solutions that successfully overcome these impediments. We are excited to see how the innovators of WEB | Health Tech are rising to that challenge."
Technology that drives efficiencies, access, and cost savings: AI, robotics, and data-driven monitoring and diagnostics
Leslie Murphy, a partner in the healthcare practice group at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (DWT), notes that current imperatives in healthcare are different than two years ago. Hear what Leslie has to say about these imperatives and how founders should be thinking about positioning their companies to address them.
Getting patients the right treatment as quickly as possible is one of the most pressing needs in our current healthcare ecosystem. Amanda DePalma, SVP, Head of Global Marketing and Communications, Ultrasound, Siemens Healthineers, explains how AI can be a critical enabler of solutions to address staffing shortages and burnout, help clinicians see more patients, increase throughput, and make exams easier for both clinicians and patients.
To decrease costs and improve the patient and provider experience, WEB | Health Tech companies are using AI and other technologies to enable efficiencies in operating rooms and in exam rooms and to manage chronic diseases.
Akara is tackling inefficiencies in the operating room through its platform that uses AI to capture surgical event data and robotics to automate manual processes.
From spending time in operating rooms, Niamh Donnelly, co-founder and CTO, noticed:
"[M]uch of what is done in the operating room is manual. Nurses spend 40% of their time writing down information and entering it into digital systems which can result in errors. And the manual cleaning of an operating room impedes turnover time. Akara's AI sensors collect data that is fed to AI agents to manage scheduling and other tasks and to robots to clean the operating room for the next patient. By automating these processes, Akara's technology helps hospitals boost surgical throughput and reduce staffing pressures."
ParaDocs' AI-powered clinical operations platform integrates with EMRs and automatically analyzes new clinical information as it becomes available, turning fragmented notes, labs, and care plans into evidence-backed insights and prioritized actions. That helps care teams spot gaps earlier, reduce manual chart review, and intervene sooner in chronic disease management.
As Dhini Nasution, CEO and founder, notes:
"In complex chronic care, the difference between 'managed' and 'missed' is rarely a lack of evidence—it's a lack of visibility at the moment decisions are made. We built ParaDocs with AI trained to think the way clinicians do—not summarizing charts, but reasoning through evidence as it unfolds over time. ParaDocs connects notes, labs, and care plans into a coherent clinical narrative, so care teams can prioritize what matters and act within the realities of day-to-day clinical operations."
Soundable Health is solving the problem of timely access to specialty care by pioneering the use of sound as a tool for medical diagnosis and monitoring with digital audible biomarkers.
Catherine Song, co-founder and CEO, explains that Soundable "is providing remote monitoring solutions using AI, smart appliances, and internet infrastructure. Unless a patient has real-time access to a specialty care team, subtle symptom changes and reductions in the efficacy of drug treatments can go unnoticed. Our technology helps patients and clinicians make smarter, faster, and more informed decisions—whether in the examination room or from the patient's home."
On Sona's platform ultrasound images and clips can be transmitted directly from the ultrasound machine to a mobile app, enabling families and healthcare providers to monitor and share ultrasound images directly from the ultrasound machine to a mobile app.
"Patient experience has become a real differentiator for OB/GYN practices,” observes Ellen Murphy, founder and CEO. "The problem is that a lot of tools meant to improve end up creating more work for staff. The best tools feel invisible. They work inside existing workflows and make the experience better for families without adding work for providers."
Models That Expand Access to Healthcare: Telehealth, Logistics, and Care Mobility
Telehealth models afford healthcare access to underserved populations and to populations with specific healthcare needs. Here is how WEB | Health Tech companies are doing that.
Zócalo Health delivers culturally aligned primary care, behavioral health, and social care services to the Latino community.
Hear from co-founder and COO, Mariza Hardin how Zócalo Health is providing high quality healthcare to a population that has been historically underserved.
BabyLiveAdvice is a virtual maternal and infant health care platform that provides education, support, and telehealth services from preconception through postpartum.
Sigi Marmorstein, CEO and founder, notes: a career at the bedside and in the boardroom, and she notes:
"Innovation saves hospitals, and it saves lives. Hospitals across the country are facing a perfect storm: sweeping cuts, rising care costs, and increasing patient demands, especially among high risk and underserved populations. BabyLiveAdvice is bringing practical, proven, scalable solutions to the table—solutions that support providers, reduce payer costs, and improve patient outcomes."
Telehealth has transformed the way many underserved communities or populations access care. However, telehealth providers must navigate complex regulations and rules regarding when, where, and to whom their services can be provided. Adam Romney, Co-chair, Healthcare Law Practice at Davis Wright Tremaine, explains:
"Some of the rules that significantly expanded the reach of telehealth were adopted during the pandemic to provide more flexibility to providers and more access to patients. Recently, Congress made some of these telehealth flexibilities permanent while others were extended through December 31, 2027. Innovators building or investing in telehealth solutions need to closely monitor these legislative developments and build business models that are flexible enough to adapt and respond to regulatory changes."
While telehealth platforms have significantly expanded access to care, there is still a need for physical transport and logistics. Two of the WEB | Health Tech companies are tackling that challenge.
Pulse Charter Connect's digital platform optimizes organ transportation in the air and on the ground by combining real-time booking, tracking, and communication across a vetted network of air and ground transport.
Founder and CEO Laura Epstein, whose business operates at the intersection of healthcare, aviation, and logistics, notes:
"Security and reliability aren't check-the-box exercises—they're table stakes. Minutes matter and lives are literally on the line. Our mission is simple, yet urgent: cut down delays, ease the burden on transplant teams, and make sure transportation is never an obstacle."
Onward's platform provides end-to-end transportation management and door-through-door companion rideshare services for older adults and persons with disabilities. Those services have helped health systems reduce hospital length of stay and the cost of direct transportation spend.
Co-founder and CEO Kim Petty explains how transportation is a leading social driver of health and how Onward's mission is addressing key underlying social determinants of health.
Solutions to Historically Overlooked Healthcare Needs: Women's Health and Mental Health
Rachel Braun Scherl has been advocating for women's health for years. Learn why she feels optimistic that women's health is finally getting the attention it deserves.
WEB | Health Tech companies are addressing critical needs in women's health—improving bone health; enabling personalized, accessible, and ongoing breast imaging; and enhancing sexual health and wellness.
Osteoboost has developed an FDA-approved non-drug prescription treatment for low bone density. The company's wearable medical device leverages NASA research and uses patented precision vibration therapy to strengthen bones.
CEO Laura Yecies notes:
"The most interesting shift in women's health right now isn't a new technology, it's the way we are finally connecting the dots across a woman's entire lifespan. Longevity, function, and long-term outcomes are showing up far more consistently in the conversations around women's health, and bone health sits beneath all of it, shaping outcomes long before most people realize. Bone loss often develops without symptoms. There is no pain and no clear signal until a fracture occurs, which is a late-stage indicator. As more of the industry begins to think longitudinally rather than episodically, we have an opportunity to reshape how women stay strong, mobile, and independent across every decade. That is our mission at Osteoboost."
iSono Health has built the first wearable, AI-powered, automated imaging platform for accessible, personalized breast health and cancer care. The company's portable, operator-agnostic 3D quantitative ultrasound delivers a comfortable whole-breast scan right in the physician's office. iSono Health has transformed breast imaging into a simple, easy-to-use solution that enables personalized, ongoing breast health monitoring—expanding access to care, enhancing the patient experience, and filling the gaps where mammography falls short.
CEO Neda Razavi notes:
"For decades, mammography has been the backbone of breast cancer screening, and while we've made important improvements around it, the experience and accessibility of breast imaging haven't had the kind of leap forward women deserve. That's why we designed our FDA-cleared, wearable, automated 3D breast ultrasound platform to bring fast, comfortable, radiation-free, consistent imaging to the point of care, especially for women who demand more information. Our vision is to revolutionize breast cancer detection by creating better access and a more realistic path to women's preventative care."
LUWI's products ensure women can obtain contraceptive and STI prevention that is on demand, over the counter, affordable, equitable, and pleasure enhancing. The company's hormone-free, latex-free contraceptive and STI preventer is designed for safer sex without hormonal contraceptives.
While many of the products we consume "are designed and funded through the male lens," founder and CEO Lisa Kinsella sees an opportunity to "help 51% of the population" with products designed by and for women. Here's how:
For years, mental health was sidelined by stigma and by the structural complexities of dealing with chronic and highly individualized conditions. One WEB | Health Tech founder is tackling those issues.
Mental health issues can be caused by stress, perfectionism, low self-esteem, and persistent negative thinking, along with physiological factors. One field in which stress can be mentally punishing is in elite competitive sports.
Founder and CEO of The Playbook, T.M. Robinson-"Mosley," says that "more than 50% of elite athletes report symptoms of depression and anxiety so severe that they struggle to function, let alone perform." WEB | Health Tech company, The Playbook, is a data-driven sports tech platform helping competitive organizations prioritize safety and athlete well-being. The company's app tracks stress, well-being, and resilience, providing athletes with actionable plans to prioritize safety and mental wellness.
What the Future Holds:
Our Takeaways
The challenges we note in this report are daunting. But there is reason for optimism. The innovators of WEB | Health Tech are shaping the promising trends that will lead to better outcomes for patients and providers. Here are some of our key takeaways from WEB | Health Tech.
- Technology platforms that integrate seamlessly with hospital workflows are improving efficiency throughput and reimbursement accuracy.
- Culturally informed digital care models are emerging as scalable population health solutions.
- Women's health is moving from niche to mainstream, including with solutions focused on aging-related health.
- Healthcare access logistics are a relatively untapped but increasingly critical infrastructure for care delivery.
- AI as infrastructure—rather than as a standalone tool—is making a significant impact, especially with solutions that prioritize data integration and measurable ROI.
The healthcare challenges of today—constrained funding, workforce shortages, shifting reimbursement models, and persistent inequities in access—are real and intensifying. Yet the companies and leaders highlighted in this report demonstrate that constraint can also be a catalyst. Across technology, care delivery models, logistics, and historically overlooked areas such as women's health and mental health, the innovators of WEB | Health Tech are not simply reacting to disruption—they are redesigning healthcare to be more resilient, inclusive, and outcomes‑driven.
Hope Levy-Biehl, Co-chair of DWT's Healthcare Law Practice, notes:
"As healthcare continues to evolve, the path forward will depend on collaboration among entrepreneurs, investors, providers, policymakers, and industry partners who share a commitment to pragmatic innovation. The WEB | Health Tech community offers a compelling blueprint for what that future can look like: one where technology works within systems, care reaches people where they are, and long‑overdue needs finally receive sustained attention."
Be part of the movement that is transforming healthcare. Learn more and join us at Project W.
The Collaborators
Thanks to all the innovators of WEB | Health Tech 2025 who are transforming the future of healthcare.
Noelle Acosta, Vamos Ventures
Buffy Alegria, LOUD Ventures
Katie Bailey, HearstLab
Louisa Barash, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Don Buder, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Christina Chan, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Michele Colucci, DigitalDx Ventures
Lara Compton, ATA Action
Amanda DePalma, Siemens Healthineers
Beth Devin, HearstLab
Jane Eckels, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Amanda Goltz, Amazon
Knute Gregg, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Alicia Castillo Holley, Wealthing VC Fund
Deb Kilpatrick, Sonder Capital
Hope Levy-Biehl, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Alice Loy, Relevance Ventures
Caoimhe MacRunnels, Reach Capital
Aman Mahajan, Healthier Capital
Shelly Malik, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Julie Miller-Phipps, Collaborative Innovation Partners; Kaiser Permanente (Retired)
David Morris, University of California San Francisco, Innovation Ventures
Leslie Murphy, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Dayna Nicholson, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Julia Monfrini Peev, PACE Healthcare Capital
Shweta Ponnappa, Providence
Rachel Braun Scherl, SPARK Solutions for Growth
Steph Scott, Questa Capital
Michelle Snyder, McKesson Ventures
Priyanka Vaidya, Coyote Ventures
Cynthia Yee, Vensana Capital
About Project W
Project W, an initiative of Davis Wright Tremaine, helps women achieve positions of influence—as CEOs, business and professional leaders, and investors—where they drive positive change and make a lasting impact. We do that through our programs for women entrepreneurs, our peer communities, and our support of women funders.
About Davis Wright Tremaine's Healthcare Industry Practice
Emerging health tech companies, big tech moving into the healthcare space, and established hospitals and healthcare systems rely on DWT to help navigate complex legal and regulatory issues in the ever-changing landscape of healthcare technology. As a full-service firm, DWT brings an exceptional complement of expertise that companies need to succeed in digital health. Wherever a company, product, or service sits within the digital health life cycle—development, formation, funding, strategy, licensing, commercialization, profitability, or sale—our team is well-positioned to advise.
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