Jenny Button first conceived of Emm during the COVID lockdown. While using an Oura ring and a Whoop band to gain insights about her body, she noticed a significant gap. There was no device dedicated to providing data on reproductive and menstrual health, which she found surprising. She believed these were areas every woman would want to track and understand better.
She decided to create a wearable device that could offer insights into reproductive health. To start, she wrote a letter to an engineer at Dyson. This connection led to the beginning of testing for her idea.
After five years of development, which included thousands of designs and iterations along with extensive user testing, her company has revealed the world’s first smart menstrual cup. The UK-based company has also raised a nine million dollar seed round. The funding was led by Lunar Ventures as the company prepares for its official product launch next year.
The product functions like a standard menstrual cup, designed to store period blood rather than absorb it. However, Emm’s medical-grade silicone is fitted with ultra-thin, advanced sensor technology. This sensor gathers data to help users identify patterns in their cycles. Button hopes this device could transform the research, diagnosis, and treatment of menstrual and reproductive health conditions.
She is not alone in this belief. Other founders in the femtech space have previously stated that menstrual blood represents an overlooked opportunity in women’s health. They suggest it could provide insights not available from standard circulatory blood tests. For instance, it could help diagnose painful and often misdiagnosed conditions like endometriosis.
Button pointed out that one in ten women suffer from endometriosis, a condition that typically takes seven to ten years to diagnose. She believes this delay is largely due to a lack of meaningful data and poor characterization of menstrual health in clinical settings. She stated that until now, there have been no reliable tools to accurately and objectively track this aspect of health. Furthermore, she added that one in three women experiences severe reproductive health issues in their lifetime.
Data collected through the Emm app is encrypted and stored securely with two-factor authentication. The data is always anonymized or pseudonymized, meaning personal identifiers are removed or replaced with codes. This information will only be accessed by Emm staff who genuinely need it.
Button described her funding round as strategic and noted she connected with her lead investor through her network. Other participants in the round include Alumni Ventures, which previously backed Oura, and BlueLion Global. The money will be used to launch the product in the UK market next year. The waitlist for the product has already exceeded 30,000 pre-orders.
Capital will also be allocated for research and development. Button hopes to enter the U.S. market in early 2027. She stated that menstrual health is only the starting point for Emm. She believes the company will ultimately have a profound impact on women’s health more broadly. She hopes to expand into areas like diagnosis, other digital care tools, and even therapeutics. The company’s mission is to accelerate diagnosis, equip people with data to advocate for themselves, and help them take control of their own bodies and health journeys.