Summary
On this special episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by the innovative women who make up the inaugural cohort of FemHealth Founders. FemHealth Founders is a women-led, women-centric innovation hub that provides validation, mentorship and investment for female founders offering solutions to women’s health-related issues. With FemHealth Founders recently concluding its first accelerator, James sits down with leaders of the five participating startups, including: Jaki Johnson, Founder and CEO of WellMiss; Meredith Brunette, Co-Founder and CEO of Bunnii; Kristen Davidson, Founder and CEO of Function Feedback; Meghan Doyle, Co-Founder and CEO of Partum Health; and Sheereen Brown and Asia Barnes, Co-Founders of Between. Throughout the episode, cohort members discuss the inspiration behind their companies, the solutions they provide for their customers and their experiences during the first FemHealth Founders accelerator. Additionally, James interviews two of the dynamic trio behind FemHealth Founders, Elizabeth Prenger and April Roy, who share how Bentonville has embraced their program and made it possible.

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‍Show Notes
Timestamps in this blog are for the audio-only version of the podcast; video timing differs.
(0:26) Introduction to Elizabeth
(0:46) About FemHealth Founders
(1:24) Why FemHealth Founders Is Located in Bentonville
(3:38) Introduction to Jaki
(5:38) About WellMiss
(10:54) Bentonville’s Whole Health Initiatives
(13:26) Jaki’s Most Important Cohort Takeaway 
(17:10) Introduction to Meredith
(17:41) About Bunnii
(19:19) Meredith’s Most Important FemHealth Takeaway
(20:22) Introduction to Kristen
(21:04) About Function Feedback
(25:19) Kristen’s Most Important FemHealth Takeaway
(29:17) Introduction to Meghan
(30:02) About Partum Health
(33:00) Meghan’s Most Important FemHealth Takeaway
(35:14) Introduction to Sheereen and Asia
(37:01) About Between
(38:59) Asia’s Most Important FemHealth Takeaway
(39:59) Sheereen’s Most Important FemHealth Takeaway
(42:12) Introduction to April
(42:21) About the FemHealth Accelerator Experience
(43:17) #BecauseBentonville Story
(45:04) Closing Thoughts
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‍Links
JAMES BELL‍‍
‍BENTONVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT‍‍‍‍
ELIZABETH PRENGER
APRIL ROY
FEMHEALTH FOUNDERS
JAKI JOHNSON
WELLMISS
MEREDITH BRUNETTE
BUNNII
KRISTEN DAVIDSON
FUNCTION FEEDBACK
MEGHAN DOYLE
PARTUM HEALTH
SHEEREEN BROWN
AISA BARNES
BETWEEN

Quotes
“Bentonville right now is on fire with its entrepreneurial support. Obviously, the city was built on entrepreneurship and it seemed like the right place for our founders to come and find the resources they need to grow and scale their businesses.” – Elizabeth Prenger, (1:24)

“WellMiss is building the first human form of digital health clinic to provide holistic and integrated trauma care to women.” – Jaki Johnson, (14:56) 

“What we’re trying to solve for is consolidating all the medical data into one place and providing interoperability on our platform to patients, providers, and their payers. And that allows for more of a seamless healthcare experience.” – Meredith Brunette, (18:23)

“We had access to a number of mentors to discuss different areas…Being able to get my prototype put together and preparing to send it out to pelvic therapists for beta testing was really pivotal. Having all the resources we had was amazing.” – Kristen Davidson, (25:27)

“…the best thing about it is you build community, you build knowledge, but also you get your passion reignited by meeting other people who are solving different problems but with equal amounts of enthusiasm and excitement.” – Meghan Doyle, (33:06)

“The most impactful thing and the most helpful thing that has happened during the program is having the mentors available that can push us, that can broaden our view.” – Asia Barnes, (39:06)

“It’s been wonderful to be in a group of other founders that are in the trenches right along with us…that sense of community is really, really important.” – Sheereen Brown, (40:05)

“I think [FemHealth Founder’s] biggest inspiration is having this community in Bentonville, in Northwest Arkansas, supporting our vision to help women-led companies.” – April Roy, (43:26)

Cultivating a Women-Led, Women’s Health Ecosystem with FemHealth Founders
On this special episode of The Bentonville Beacon, host James Bell is joined by the innovative women who make up the inaugural cohort of FemHealth Founders. FemHealth Founders is a women-led, women-centric innovation hub that provides validation, mentorship and investment for female founders offering solutions to women’s health-related issues. With FemHealth Founders recently concluding its first accelerator, James sits down with leaders of the five participating startups, including: Jaki Johnson, Founder and CEO of WellMiss; Meredith Brunette, Co-Founder and CEO of Bunnii; Kristen Davidson, Founder and CEO of Function Feedback; Meghan Doyle, Co-Founder and CEO of Partum Health; and Sheereen Brown and Asia Barnes, Co-Founders of Between. Throughout the episode, cohort members discuss the inspiration behind their companies, the solutions they provide for their customers and their experiences during the first FemHealth Founders accelerator. Additionally, James interviews two of the dynamic trio behind FemHealth Founders, Elizabeth Prenger and April Roy, who share how Bentonville has embraced their program and made it possible.

Empowering Women-Centric, Women’s Health-Related Startups
FemHealth Founders is an organization focused on cultivating a world-class femhealth ecosystem in the Heartland with a goal of elevating fifty women-led companies by 2026. In an effort to achieve this, FemHeath Founders recently partnered with StitchCrew to launch the first-ever FemHealth accelerator program. This provided six women entrepreneurs with the opportunity to refine and scale their approach to bringing women’s health and wellness products to market.

“We had access to a number of mentors to discuss different areas…Being able to get my prototype put together and preparing to send it out to pelvic therapists for beta testing was really pivotal. Having all the resources we had was amazing.” – Kristen Davidson, (25:27)

Areas of interest for the accelerator included personalized healthcare innovation, interoperable applications between physician and patient, real-world evidence health data platforms, consumer solutions, wellness solutions and mental health solutions. Selected companies each received $10,000 non-dilutive grants, plus learned from industry experts, capital access providers and other thought leaders.

FemHealth’s 2023 Cohort
This year’s cohort consisted of WellMiss, a virtual healing space for women that utilizes holistic and integrative wellness care to help women through trauma. Another participant was Bunnii, a personal health record and care navigation platform dedicated to fertility with the aim of broadening access for anyone whose path to parenthood hasn’t been straightforward. And Function Feedback aims to provide affordable, customizable biofeedback for pelvic floor therapy.

Additionally, Partum Health is closing the gap in maternal and infant health outcomes, starting with the radical transformation of postpartum care for women and families with newborns. Lastly, Between is making on-demand, high-quality gynecology care a reality for millions of women. At the end of the eight-week program, participants showcased their solutions to investors as well as StitchCrew and FemHealth Founders’ extensive Northwest Arkansas networks.

“…the best thing about it is you build community, you build knowledge, but also you get your passion reignited by meeting other people who are solving different problems but with equal amounts of enthusiasm and excitement.” – Meghan Doyle, (33:06)
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Get Connected!
‍Thank you for tuning in to this episode of The Bentonville Beacon! Join us weekly for more stories from entrepreneurs and business leaders who are sparking the rise of Bentonville. If you are interested in discussing whether your business should have a presence in Bentonville or would like to discuss this podcast, please contact James Bell. You may reach James at JBELL@GREATERBENTONVILLE.COM or (479) 273-2841.