This article is based on our conversation with Imen Clark, Founder and CEO of Prickly Pear Health, where she shared how voice and data can unlock emotional insight, why menopause is a moment of power—not decline—and how inclusive tech can redefine the future of women’s brain health.
Key Takeaways
- Cognitive care is the next frontier in women’s health. While femtech has expanded rapidly, cognitive care, especially during menopause, remains a relatively untapped space.
- Menopause is not a decline, it’s a turning point. With the right care, many women can experience greater clarity, creativity, and cognitive resilience in midlife.
- Personalized brain health recommendations are now a reality. Emotional and cognitive well-being can be trackable and actionable by integrating voice patterns and wearable data.
The Missing Chapter in Women’s Health
For years, the health tech revolution didn’t fully account for women’s unique needs. Even as “femtech,” a term only coined in 2016 by Clue founder Ida Tin (Medium), gained traction as a category, much of it centered on reproductive health, often built by male founders, backed by male investors, and shaped by clinical research rooted in male biology. Women’s unique cognitive and hormonal journeys, particularly during midlife transitions, were ignored, underfunded, and misunderstood.
This systemic gap is something we explored in depth in our recent article, “The Billion-Dollar Blind Spot in VC”, which highlights how venture capital has historically failed to support women-led innovation in health
But the tide is turning. In the past few years alone, investment in femtech has surged beyond $1 billion annually (GoingVC). Nearly 70% of new femtech ventures are now led by women (Forbes), reflecting a shift toward more empathetic and effective health solutions rooted in female-led design. Forecasts predict the femtech market could reach $103 billion by 2030 (Deloitte). The conversation is expanding: from fertility to mental health, from cycles to cognition
This systemic gap is something we explored in depth in our recent article, “The Billion-Dollar Blind Spot in VC”, which highlights how venture capital has historically failed to support women-led innovation in health
This systemic gap is something we explored in depth in our recent article, “The Billion-Dollar Blind Spot in VC”, which highlights how venture capital has historically failed to support women-led innovation in health
The Invisible Transition: Menopause and the Mental Load
For too long, menopause has been portrayed as a decline: a winding down of energy, value, and relevance. But what if we saw it for what it truly is: a powerful neurological and hormonal shift that, with the right care, can unlock clarity, creativity, and strength?
Biologically, women’s brains don’t deteriorate because of menopause. They change. And when supported with nutrition, movement, emotional grounding, and rest, those changescan lead to greater cognitive resilience and even improved focus.
Most health apps still treat menopause as a medical side note, if they mention it at all. But this phase holds enormous potential for transformation, if we stop dismissing it and start designing for it.
Meet the Founder: Imen Clark’s Mission to Build Tech That Listens
For Imen Clark, the founder of Prickly Pear Health, the path to innovation began with two questions: What if we could spot cognitive shifts early? And what if women had the tools to make sense of them without waiting for a diagnosis?
Born and raised in Tunisia, Imen’s journey took her across Asia, Europe, and North America. A second-time founder and product visionary, she had previously built technology that used motion capture to help patients with Parkinson’s and dementia adhere to physical therapy. When the time came for building her second startup, she realized that true impact required a shift in strategy: from treatment to prevention.
Then came the statistic that changed everything: 70% of Alzheimer’s patients are women (Alzheimer’s Association). That insight, paired with her own experiences navigating the world as a woman technologist, sparked the creation of Prickly Pear: a next-generation digital health platform for women’s brain health.
Designed with Her in Mind: The Joyful Resilience Movement
Prickly Pear combines wearable data and voice journaling with AI to offer personalized cognitive and emotional insights. It’s built especially for women aged 36–56 who are navigating brain fog, mental fatigue, mood shifts, or subtle cognitive changes caused by hormonal shifts.
The Prickly Pear experience is built based on a philosophy Imen calls “Joy by Design.”
How does Prickly Pear Health work?
This is Michelle, a 43-year-old executive whose mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Concerned about her own cognitive future, Michelle downloads the freemium version of Prickly Pear.
Morning check-in
(voice journaling)
Each morning, she is greeted with a short voice-based check-in where she logs how she feels, sets intentions for the day, and answers a few reflective prompts.
Data capture
(voice + wearable)
The app listens to her voice patterns, capturing tone, cadence,and energy level, and integrates this with wearable data such asher sleep quality, physical activity, and heart rate variability.
Personalized
suggestions
(selt-care advive)
Based on these inputs, Prickly Pear generates a personalized set of self-care suggestions for Michelle. These might include mindful breaks, movement goals, hydration reminders, or prompts to engage socially, all aligned with her hormonal cycle and cognitive state.
Adaptive insights
(pattern recognition)
Over time, the app adapts to Michelle’s rhythms, offering AI-generated summaries that help her visualize mood trends and cognitive performance.
Referrals and content
(deep connected care)
As she uses the app consistently, Michelle gains access to a premium layer, allowing her to:
- sync multiple wearables
- receive curated psychoeducational content tailored to her emotional patterns
- get guided referrals to mental health specialists, sleep coaches, or nutritionists based on early signals detected by the app.
The result is a cognitive health ecosystem that feels not only proactive but deeply personal—an intuitive companion helping her stay grounded, clear, and connected.
The B2C Bet: Why Imen Went Direct-to-Women
Unlike many health tech startups that chase enterprise pilots, Imen made a bold decision: go straight to the women. Her reasoning? Real women are not just end users—they’re co-creators of what this product becomes.
“If we had gone B2B, we’d maybe get a small group of users for a pilot. Instead, we’re already reaching hundreds of women who are eager to take control of their brain health.”
Her model follows in the footsteps of successful B2C health brands like Headspace and Calm, but with a radically specific lens: women in hormonal transition.
Not Just an App: A Movement for Cognitive Equity
Imen’s vision doesn’t stop at product-market fit. She dreams of a world where brainhealth is understood through an inclusive lens, where data is collected from Black, Latina, and Middle Eastern women to understand how culture, hormones, and health systems intersect.
“We know that Latina women enter menopause earlier. We know that Black women face higher cardiovascular risks. But what does that mean for brain health? That’s what we’re trying to uncover.”
Prickly Pear is building a global dataset that could redefine how we prevent diseases like Alzheimer’s, anxiety, and depression in women of all backgrounds.
A Call to Action: Reclaiming Your Brain Health
So what does it mean to care for your brain today?
“Most high achievers have to-do lists for work. We want to help women build to-do lists for their own self-care.”
If you’re navigating brain fog, emotional fatigue, or simply want to understand your own rhythms better, now is the time to start. Visit pricklypear.io and claim your spot or find them on the App Store here.
Because your brain is not just something to power through. It’s something to protect, nurture, and celebrate, especially when the world forgets to.
Alternova’s Takeaways
At Alternova, we’re committed to building software that serves real human needs, and Imen’s journey deeply resonates with our own values. Here’s what stood out:
- Designing for lived experience matters. When product design starts with real stories and diverse perspectives, it becomes more inclusive and useful.
- Understanding feelings is just as important as tracking movement. Emotional and cognitive data, captured through voice and behavior, are becoming essential components of personalized care.
- Change is being led from the margins. Founders like Imen are expanding what health tech means by putting community and context at the center.
Are you a healthtech innovator who’s rewriting the rules?
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