A femtech founder told me her consumer acquisition costs were killing her business.
"We're spending $87 to acquire a user who pays $12.99 monthly. They stay an average of 3.4 months. The economics don't work."
I asked if she'd considered corporate benefits as a distribution channel.
"We're a consumer app," she said. "Why would companies pay for it?"
Six months later, she called back. She'd landed three corporate contracts. Average deal: 2,500 employees, $8 per employee per month, paid annually upfront, 78% utilization rate within 90 days.
"I was completely wrong," she admitted. "Corporate benefits isn't just a better channel—it's a fundamentally different business model. And nobody tells founders this is the path to sustainability."
She's right. Corporate benefits is quietly becoming the dominant distribution model for women's health apps—and most founders have no idea how to access it.
The consumer model for women's health apps has predictable problems:
High acquisition costs. Women's health is sensitive. Many users won't engage with targeted ads. Word-of-mouth is slow. CAC typically runs $50-120.
Low willingness to pay. Despite high value, many women won't pay $15-20 monthly for health apps when wellness content feels "free" online.
Privacy concerns limit virality. Women don't casually share that they're using perimenopause tracking or pelvic floor therapy apps. Organic growth is limited.
Utilization drops during transitions. Pregnancy apps lose users after birth. Fertility tracking stops after conception. Period tracking pauses during pregnancy and menopause.
Corporate benefits solves every one of these problems:
Zero CAC for users. Companies recruit users for you by including your app in benefits packages.
Employer-paid removes price sensitivity. Users access premium features at no cost, removing the conversion barrier.
Privacy is protected. Employers know aggregate utilization, not individual usage. Women can use sensitive health apps without disclosure concerns.
Contract stability creates predictability. Annual contracts provide revenue visibility that consumer subscriptions don't.
Cross-category expansion is built in. A company's female employees span reproductive stages—your platform can serve pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, and fertility simultaneously.
Most femtech founders pitch product features to HR. "Our app helps women track ovulation with 99% accuracy using basal body temperature and—"
HR interrupts: "How does this reduce our healthcare costs and improve productivity metrics?"
HR doesn't buy apps. They buy solutions to business problems women's health creates:
Problem 1: Maternal healthcare costs are exploding. Average cost of pregnancy complications that could have been prevented with early intervention: $54,000. Cost of your pregnancy monitoring app: $96 per employee annually.
Problem 2: Menopause productivity loss is invisible but massive. Studies show untreated menopause symptoms cost employers $1.8 billion annually in lost productivity. Your menopause support app: $120 per employee annually.
Problem 3: Fertility treatment leave is unpredictable and expensive. Average IVF cycle requires 10+ medical appointments during business hours. Your fertility navigation app that coordinates care and reduces appointment burden: $84 per employee annually.
Problem 4: Postpartum return-to-work attrition is costly. Replacing an employee costs 50-200% of salary. Your postpartum support app that improves return-to-work experience: $72 per employee annually.
Notice the pattern? You're not selling features. You're quantifying how your app reduces costs HR already knows they're paying—they just can't see the line item labeled "women's health problems."
Here's the framework that works:
"Your company has approximately 3,200 female employees. Based on demographic data, roughly 400 are in perimenopause or menopause. Research shows 25% experience symptoms severe enough to impact work performance. That's 100 employees experiencing productivity loss, increased healthcare utilization, and potential attrition—costing an estimated $1.2M annually in lost productivity and healthcare expenses."
You're making their invisible problem visible with their own numbers.
"Our menopause support platform costs $9.50 per female employee monthly, or $365K annually for your population. Clinical studies show it reduces menopause-related healthcare utilization by 34% and improves productivity metrics by 18%. Conservative estimates suggest ROI of 240% in year one through reduced healthcare costs and productivity recovery."
You're showing immediate financial return, not asking them to spend on "nice to have" benefits.
"Implementation requires zero IT involvement—employees access via mobile or web with SSO integration to your existing benefits portal. Privacy is HIPAA-compliant; you'll see aggregate engagement metrics only, never individual health data. Onboarding typically reaches 60% of target population within 60 days through our proven launch campaign."
You're removing every reason they might say no: IT burden, privacy concerns, adoption risk.
"We currently serve 47 enterprise clients including [companies in their industry], with average engagement rates of 73% and NPS of 84. Here's a case study from [similar company] showing $2.1M in healthcare cost savings over 18 months."
You're proving this works for companies like them, not just in theory.
Corporate sales require navigating multiple stakeholders:
HR Benefits Manager: Cares about vendor management, cost, engagement, competitive benefits packages. They control budget but need healthcare and leadership buy-in.
Healthcare/Wellness Director: Cares about health outcomes, utilization, cost reduction, population health metrics. They provide clinical credibility.
CFO/Finance: Cares about ROI, contract terms, risk. They approve spending over certain thresholds.
Your initial outreach should target HR Benefits, but your materials must address all three audiences. The best approach: offer a "benefits consultation" where you analyze their population and provide customized ROI projections—giving you permission to ask questions and create a compelling, specific business case.
Consumer pricing: $12.99/month, hoping for long retention to reach positive LTV.
Corporate pricing: $8-15 per eligible employee per month (PEPM), billed annually, whether they use the app or not.
Do the math: A 5,000-employee company with 2,500 female employees at $10 PEPM = $300,000 annual contract value (ACV), paid upfront.
That's the same revenue as 23,000 consumer subscribers—but acquired with one sales cycle, not 23,000 individual conversions.
Corporate pricing is typically 20-40% lower than consumer pricing per user, but the economics are dramatically better because:
Corporate benefits sales cycles are longer than consumer, but more predictable:
Month 1-2: Identify target companies, secure introductions to HR, conduct benefits consultations
Month 3-4: Develop customized proposals with ROI analysis, present to stakeholders
Month 5-6: Negotiate contracts, address legal/compliance, finalize terms
Month 7: Implementation, integration with benefits portal, employee communication
Month 8-12: Onboarding campaigns, engagement optimization, outcome tracking
Yes, it's a 6-12 month sales cycle. But once closed, you have predictable multi-year revenue and low churn (5-15% annually versus 60-80% for consumer subscriptions).
Consumer femtech apps are struggling with unit economics that don't work. Corporate benefits provides:
The femtech companies that will still exist in five years aren't optimizing consumer funnels. They're building enterprise sales capabilities and positioning themselves as women's health infrastructure for corporations.
The question isn't whether corporate benefits is the right channel. It's whether you're building your company for the channel that actually works.
Building a femtech product and need help positioning for corporate benefits channels? Winsome's consulting practice helps women's health startups develop enterprise value propositions, create ROI models that resonate with HR, and build sales strategies for corporate distribution. Let's talk about making your unit economics actually work.