Women's health tech companies struggled for years to convince investors just how massive the market potential could be. In 2020, they finally broke through: Funding for female-focused digital health startups--think AI-enabled fertility tracking and "smart" breastfeeding monitors--set a new record, rising 105 percent from 2019 to $418 million, according to early-stage venture fund Rock Health.

"Female founders [have] punched above their weight class in digital health," Anu Duggal of Female Founders Fund said during a recent Inc. streaming event. Her seed-stage venture fund has invested in several so-called femtech startups, including Maven Clinic, Oula, Real, and Tempest.

The pandemic buoyed the femtech industry, as women sought digital options for their reproductive and gynecological health needs. And interest in the sector shows no signs of abating. VCs poured $964 million into women's health startups in the first quarter of 2021, according to CB Insights.

More than half of that funding was raised by digital health platform Ro, a company that initially focused on men's health care but has since launched a women's vertical called Rory. In May, Ro acquired at-home hormone testing service Modern Fertility for $225 million, the largest investment in reproductive health care to date.

Read the full article about women's health startups by Amrita Khalid at Inc.