Daniel Seewald, co-founder of LiviWell, and Dr. Michael Ingber, chief medical officer, discuss the importance of building in an overlooked area of women’s health.
- What first drew you to the problem Livi is designed to address, and why do you think post-intercourse fluid has been overlooked for so long?
Seewald: I first learned about this problem through an unexpected conversation with my wife. She had been bothered by post-intercourse fluids for so long but had never shared it with me or anyone else. Once she told me, I couldn’t stop thinking about how to solve it. Soon after, I had a chance meeting with Dr. Michael Ingber, a urogynecologist specialising in female pelvic medicine. We both recognised the potential to help women and bring an innovative solution to market. Together, we spoke to hundreds of women, ran experiment after experiment, gathered feedback, and refined the concept until we achieved FDA clearance.
Dr. Ingber: In my experience, this issue has been overlooked for several reasons. Many women deal with it privately without discussing it with a partner, friend, or even their doctor. There’s also a misconception that using a tissue or urinating after intercourse will fully resolve the issue. While these methods may remove some of the fluid, the vagina has natural pockets and crevices where fluid can remain, potentially affecting vaginal wellness in unintended ways. As a urogynecologist, I’ve seen how gaps in education and persistent myths surrounding sexual and vaginal health can prevent women from finding effective solutions. These misconceptions exist among women and healthcare professionals alike, which is why greater awareness and education are so important.
- Women’s health innovation often focuses on fertility, menstruation and menopause. Why do you think everyday intimate health concerns have received less attention, and what needs to change?
Seewald: Fertility, menstruation, and menopause are widely recognised milestones in women’s lives, so they tend to receive the most attention in conversations about women’s health. When the Livi team attends women’s health conferences, these topics account for the vast majority of the discussion. But so much of what women actually deal with happens in between those milestones. Sexual health, in particular, is still considered “taboo”. Even platforms like Meta restrict content that uses terms such as “sex” and “semen.” As a result, women dealing with concerns like vaginal dryness or post-sex discomfort may suffer in silence, assuming these experiences are normal or feeling too uncomfortable to discuss them, even with their doctors.
Beyond that, the reality is that women’s health has gone largely underfunded in the past. But that’s all changing. Maybe not quickly enough for many people’s liking, but it’s happening, and the fact that I’m writing this is a testimony to that change.
- What were the biggest challenges in bringing Livi from an idea to an FDA-cleared device?
Seewald: Wow… how many pages do we have to answer this one! Having an idea is the easy part. Bringing a physical product that is inserted into the body and requires FDA evaluation and clearance is very hard. But the biggest challenge for a small startup like ours is staying the course and not getting discouraged when things don’t go according to plan. Nothing ever goes the way you expect it to. Because of that, the biggest challenge is not getting too high when you have success or too low when there’s disappointment.
And the secret to that? Having a great business partner who will lift you up when you’re down, and vice versa. There were many, many more clinical, operational and business challenges, but this human behavioral issue is the most important.
- How do stigma and the reluctance to talk openly about vaginal health affect innovation and the adoption of new solutions?
Seewald: Stigma shows up at every step. On the product innovation side, it’s hard to design a product for a problem that people are reluctant to talk about. And it’s even harder to have product engineers working on it if they think it’s trivial or embarrassing to talk about. We experienced this early on when a male engineer took over from our female engineer, and he persistently made awkward jokes and minimised the feedback and insights we were getting from female users.
On the other side, it was very challenging at the outset to attract investors to consider the opportunity. The majority of investors tend to be men, and most men we pitched were uncomfortable with the product and the subject matter. In some cases, they would tell us that their wife or partner had never mentioned this problem and that, therefore, it probably wasn’t a big problem, despite our mountain of research findings and testimonials.
Even once a product exists, getting the word out can be tough because a lot of advertising platforms still flag or block anything related to sexual health. And on the adoption side, stigma keeps women from sharing the product with friends.
- Beyond Livi, where do you see the biggest opportunities for innovation in women’s intimate health, and which unmet needs do you think deserve greater attention?
Dr. Ingber: I believe there is significant room for innovation in women’s health, particularly in areas that have historically received limited attention. Recurrent vaginal infections, including bacterial vaginosis and yeast infections, are a major concern for many women, yet treatment approaches have remained relatively unchanged for decades. The vaginal microbiome is another important area of research, as we continue to learn more about its role in everyday vaginal health and long-term wellness.
Emerging research also suggests that semen exposure may influence the vaginal microbiome and potentially create conditions that favor bacteria associated with bacterial vaginosis. As a urogynecologist and Chief Medical Officer of LiviWell, I recently received a $100,000 research grant to investigate how our device may influence the vaginal microbiome and levels of volatile amines, compounds associated with the characteristic odor of bacterial vaginosis. This research represents an opportunity to further our understanding of an area that has historically been understudied.
Beyond these areas, there are many common but underdiscussed concerns that deserve greater attention, including painful intercourse, post-sex urinary tract infections, pelvic floor dysfunction after childbirth, urinary leakage, and vaginal dryness and discomfort during and after menopause. Too often, women are told these issues are simply a normal part of aging or motherhood. In reality, they deserve to be taken seriously, studied more extensively, and addressed with better solutions.
- What needs to happen across the FemTech industry, healthcare and investment landscape to ensure overlooked aspects of women’s health receive the research, funding and innovation they need?
Seewald: Everyone needs to get more comfortable saying the word “vagina.” Researchers need to study what women actually deal with, doctors need to ask awkward questions, and investors need to stop blushing and start writing checks, because half the population isn’t a niche market.
