Interview with Maaike Steinebach of FemTech Future

Could you please introduce yourself and your role at FemTech Future?

My name is Maaike, and I've been in Asia since 2003. My career was in financial services, holding senior roles including CEO of Visa for Hong Kong and Macau. My passion for innovation sparked at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where I pushed for the bank's first innovation lab outside of Australia to be in Hong Kong. This hub set up in 2013 became a knowledge hub for innovation including AI, data analytics,digital assets and eventually was the birth ground of  Hong Kong's FinTech Association.

In 2018, I discovered "FemTech"—technology to support the health and wellbeing of women—and it resonated deeply. As a mother and caregiver, I saw how women neglect their own I was fascinated by early innovations, like a smart breast inlay for early cancer detection. I eventually left my corporate role to found FemTech Future. I now act as an educator and advisor, using my experience to help health startups scale and bridge the gap between them and corporations, insurers, and governments.

What gap in the market inspired the creation of your company?

Our mission is to close the gender health gap through technology. There is a profound lack of knowledge about the female body, and traditional systems like healthcare and insurance were largely designed for men by men. If we wait for these systems to adapt alone, it will take hundreds of years. Technology can leapfrog these barriers, making women's healthcare more accessible and efficient, just as FinTech revolutionized financial services through collaboration.

What is your vision for FemTech's potential to transform women's health and wellness in Asia?

FemTech is the one of the fastest-growing areas of innovation globally, and its potential in Asia is particularly enormous. In countries like Indonesia or the Philippines, where clinic access can be limited, a mobile phone can be a lifeline. Technology can provide education and remote monitoring for pregnancies, allowing a doctor miles away to advise a patient to come in only when necessary. This makes healthcare more accessible and affordable, which in turn benefits families, communities, and economies.

Looking back on your journey so far, what are you most proud of?

I am proud of bringing the term "FemTech" into the mainstream in Hong Kong. I'm also very proud of organizing Asia's first "Women's Health in Focus" summit this past June. It was a two-day event dedicated to educating about the gender health gap and then inspiring with the amazing solutions being developed. It was a significant milestone for the region.

As a member of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce, what are you hoping to achieve?

My hope is threefold: to create awareness about the massive business opportunity in FemTech and women’s health; to foster collaboration between the East and West by bringing innovative Dutch healthtech solutions to Hong Kong's biotech hub and vice versa through FemTech NL, a new non profit organisation I co-founded with Sophie van Dijk in the Netherlands; and to connect with members to support them in creating better workplaces and employee benefits for women.

As you look to the future, what is the next chapter for you and the FemTech community?

I often feel like a dog walker with six different dogs—startups, women, corporations, insurers, governments, and investors—all pulling in different directions. My goal is to get them all walking in the same direction.

My immediate priority is working with insurance companies to get better coverage for FemTech solutions. But my larger vision is rooted in collaboration. Different initiatives have different strengths. For example, a Hong Kong company created a sanitary pad to test for HPV, while a UK company developed a similar tampon. Instead of working in isolation, I want to bring such companies together so they can scale quicker.

My dream is to accelerate impact by fostering these partnerships and bridging the gap between East and West. That is the next chapter: turning individual efforts into a powerful, unified movement.

My podcast is called Femtech At Work and can be found on https://open.spotify.com/show/0h6KFmu8JjA6Rde0KfGxon?si=834a80ddafb04c5a