Emm, a UK-based biowearable technology start-up, has secured $9 million (£6.8M) in an oversubscribed seed round to support the rollout of what it says will be the world’s first smart menstrual cup and connected app. The raise, announced in London on Wednesday, 19 November, is intended to accelerate a planned 2026 consumer launch and expand development of new clinical products.
The seed round was led by Lunar Ventures, with backing from the Labcorp Venture Fund, Tiny VC, BlueLion Global and Alumni Ventures, alongside several high-profile angel investors including Amar Shah, Vivek Garipalli and Harpreet Rai. The company also secured non-dilutive funding through grants aimed at advancing women’s health technologies.
Emm says its new product category, described as “smart menstrual care”, will allow users to track their menstrual flow volume and cycles with precision, offering personalised insights into patterns, duration and regularity. According to the company, the aim is to improve understanding, support diagnosis and provide a long-overdue tool for clinicians and individuals navigating menstrual or reproductive health conditions.
The business argues that menstrual health remains one of the most overlooked areas within healthcare despite affecting half the global population. With 1 in 3 women expected to experience severe symptoms during their lifetime, Emm says that reliable baseline tracking has been largely unavailable until now. The device, developed across five years and thousands of design iterations, combines medical-grade silicone with ultra-thin sensors and connects to an app that compiles baseline data within three cycles.
Founded in 2020 by Jenny Button, Emm’s corporate and advisory boards include senior figures from MIT, BIO, the University of Cambridge and Unilever. The board is chaired by Grace E. Colón, PhD, who brings nearly three decades of experience across biopharma, genomics and healthcare.
Button said: “Menstruation is known as the fifth vital sign, but has historically been overlooked by the wearable sector, leaving millions without the data they need to understand and advocate for their own bodies. We envision a future where menstrual health is measured and understood as comprehensively as cardiovascular or metabolic health, giving people access to objective, actionable insights to better manage their health and wellbeing.”
Colón added: “Emm’s technology has the potential to serve as both a biological sample and data insights platform, unlocking new knowledge and opportunities for researchers and biotech focused on women’s health and beyond. I am thrilled to partner with Jenny and her team to provide tools that are desperately needed and catalyze what we anticipate will be major advances for patients.”
Mick Halsband, Partner at Lunar Ventures, commented: “We’re proud to back Jenny and the Emm team as they build the foundational technology to transform women’s health and drive measurable impact in chronic diseases… Their world-first platform has the potential to redefine standards of care and data quality in menstrual health and beyond.”
Megann Vaughn Watters, VP of New Ventures & Strategic Alliances at Labcorp, said: “We see tremendous value in innovations that give people more control over their own health with actionable data and insights…”
Emm plans to launch in the UK in early 2026, with additional markets to follow. A waitlist for early subscribers is now open.
