Flo
Developer(s)Flo Health, Inc.
Initial release2015
Operating systemiOS
Android
Available in22 languages
Websiteflo.health

Flo is a health app that provides menstruation tracking, cycle prediction, and information regarding preparation for conception, pregnancy, early motherhood, and menopause.[1]

The application is available on iOS and Android.[2] Flo has over 200 million downloads worldwide and 48 million monthly active users as of September 2022.[3]

Company History

Flo was co-founded in 2015 by Dmitry and Yuri Gurski, in Belarus.[4] Dmitry served as the company's CEO.[5]

In 2016, the company raised $1 million in seed round funding from Flint Capital and Haxus Venture Fund.[6]

In 2017, Flo received an investment of $5 million from Flint Capital and model Natalia Vodianova.[4] Vodianova also helped develop Flo's "Let’s Talk About it. Period" worldwide awareness campaign.[7] In December of that year, Flo began working with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to spread awareness about women's reproductive and sexual health issues.[8] Also in 2017, Flo launched a question and answer service within the app.[4]

In 2018, Flo received an investment of $6 million from Mangrove Capital Partners, with participation from Flint Capital and Haxus, giving the company a valuation of $200 million.[9]

In mid-2019, Flo received an additional investment of $7.5 million. Founders Fund was one of the main investors in the round.[10] In September 2019, Privacy International published a report regarding data sharing for a number of period-tracking apps.[11] Following a number of data-sharing controversies in the industry, Flo and four other apps implemented measures to protect user's data from third parties.[12]

In early September 2021, Flo announced it closed $50M in a Series B financing, bringing the total capital raised to $65 million and company valuation to $800M.[13] VNV Global and Target Global both led the round.[14]

Flo Chief Executive Officer, Dmitry Gurski said the new developments will aim to provide advanced cycle insights and symptom patterns in order to help people "understand if what they are experiencing is considered to be okay, and as a result help users proactively improve their overall health.”[15] He also added that he is looking to hire 200 people, including around 100 roles based in London.[16]

Application and community

Flo was initially created as a period and ovulation tracking application, but later, it developed into a health partner for women. The application covers all phases of the reproductive cycle, including the start of menstruation (teens), cycle tracking, preparation for conception, pregnancy, early motherhood, menopause.[1]

Flo provides reminders of upcoming menstrual cycles and record of various other health symptoms such as contraceptive methods, vaginal discharge, water intake, pains, mood swings, and sexual activity.[1]

A community section was added in 2017, which allows users to anonymously answer and ask questions on health issues. At the end of 2018, Flo launched a PCOS Health Assistant, a self-assessment tool of whether user self-identified symptoms could be associated with a potential risk of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.[17]

Content on the app is reviewed by a board of medical professionals, on behalf of Flo Health. The board advises the developers on medical-related issues, with advisors consisting of professional GB/GYN's and MDs. The expertise provided by the board helps users identify other medical issues that can be similar to menstrual side-effects.[18] The app also aims to increase awareness of conditions that can often be confused for period symptoms, such as Heavy Menstrual Bleeding and PCOS.[18][19]

Culture and menstruation

Flo Health has invested in researching taboos and cultural differences for women. In 2019, Flo announced they had completed a survey of 200,000 women globally, as a wider study into period poverty. The study found a number of common problems, such as 34% of those surveyed believing that period poverty is only an issue in developing countries.[20]

Flo collaborated with the United Nations Population Fund's (UNFPA) sexual and reproductive health agency in a project assist women with disabilities. As a UNFPA partner, Flo took part in the Nairobi Summit for International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and committed to advancing women's reproductive health.[21] Similar partnerships were agreed with European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) to develop educational materials and also contribute to awareness about women's health.[22]

Privacy & Security

In February 2019, it emerged that Flo had been sending users' health data to Facebook.[23] The data was sent without users' informed consent,[24] and in violation of Facebook's developer policies.[25]

Later in February 2019, Flo said that it had released an update for its iOS and Android apps that would stop them from sending any further sensitive personal data to external analytics companies such as Facebook, and that it would conduct a privacy audit.[25][26] In response to the allegations of private data misuse, a complaint was filed against Flo Health, Inc by the FTC.[27] The complaint ultimately lead to Flo and the FTC reaching a settlement.[28]

Anonymous Mode

In September, 2022, as a response to Roe v. Wade being overturned, Flo released a feature called “Anonymous Mode”. This mode allows users to access the app without any personal data, and technical identifiers, marking Flo to be the first female health app to take this level of privacy and security.[29][30]

Flo has partnered with Cloudflare, the same company that Apple worked with for the iCloud Private Relay, to integrate an Oblivious HTTP system, App Relay Gateway, which ensures that no single party processing user data for Anonymous Mode accounts has complete information on both who the user is and what they are trying to access.[31][32]

The feature has received positive feedback and was praised by Andrew Crawford, Senior Policy Counsel at the Center for Democracy & Technology.[33]

Recognition

Flo is a CES 2019 Innovation Awards Honouree in the Software and Mobile Applications category.[34]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "In-Depth: Digital health innovation in fertility and women's health – not so niche anymore". MobiHealthNews. 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  2. ↑ "Flo takes aim at women's health in $5M Series A round". MobiHealthNews. 2017-08-14. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  3. ↑ Kilpatrick, Amina (2022-06-30). "Period tracker app Flo developing 'anonymous mode' to quell post-Roe privacy concerns". NPR. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  4. 1 2 3 "Flo raises $5 million for its AI-powered period-tracking app". VentureBeat. 2017-08-11. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  5. ↑ "Two Belarusian startups named CES 2019 Innovation Awards honorees". euroradio.fm. Retrieved 2019-06-05.
  6. ↑ "Funding Snapshot: Flo App Raises $1 Million Seed for Period Calculator". Wall Street Journal. 2016-12-15. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  7. ↑ "Natalia Vodianova's New Video Series Tackles Every Single Period Taboo". InStyle.com. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  8. ↑ "UNFPA partners with Flo app to bring reproductive health information to millions of users". www.unfpa.org. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  9. ↑ "AI-powered women's health platform lands $12M in Series A extension round". MobiHealthNews. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2018-12-11.
  10. ↑ Кинякина, Екатерина (8 November 2019). "Как братья-близнецы создали "женский календарь" стоимостью $230 млн". Forbes.
  11. ↑ "No Body's Business But Mine: How Menstruation Apps Are Sharing Your Data". Privacy International. September 9, 2019.
  12. ↑ Brown, Shelby. "These menstrual tracking apps reportedly shared sensitive data with Facebook". CNET.
  13. ↑ "Flo Health is used by millions of women to track their periods. Here's the 27-slide pitch deck it used to raise $50 million at an $800 million valuation". Business Insider. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  14. ↑ "Flo Announces $50 Million Series B Funding Round; Bringing Company to $800M Valuation". Yahoo Finance. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  15. ↑ "Cycle-tracking femtech firm Flo Health raises $50 million to fuel hiring spree and R&D". Evening Standard. September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Cycle-tracking femtech firm Flo Health raises $50 million to fuel hiring spree and R&D". Evening Standard. September 9, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2021.
  17. ↑ "How Flo is making a difference". Health Foundation.
  18. 1 2 Bissell, Jordan (July 11, 2019). "s It My Period Or A Health Issue? 6 Problems That May Not Be Because Of Your Cycle". Bustle.
  19. ↑ "13 Things To Ask Your Doctor About Your Birth Control". Bustle. August 7, 2019.
  20. ↑ Thorpe, JR (18 October 2019). "Period Poverty in the US show its a complicated issue". Bustle.
  21. ↑ "Kate Romanovskaia speaker & commitments". Nairobi summit. 21 October 2019.
  22. ↑ "EBCOG and Flo Health Inc., the developer of Flo, an AI-powered women's health app, sign Collaboration". European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
  23. ↑ Schechner, Sam; Secada, Mark (22 February 2019). "You Give Apps Sensitive Personal Information. Then They Tell Facebook". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  24. ↑ "Facebook reportedly received users' sensitive health data from apps: "It's incredibly dishonest"". www.cbsnews.com. 22 February 2019.
  25. 1 2 Bell, Karissa (22 February 2019). "Period tracking app says it will stop sharing health data with Facebook". Mashable.
  26. ↑ Schechner, Sam (25 February 2019). "Eleven Popular Apps That Shared Data With Facebook". Wall Street Journal – via www.wsj.com.
  27. ↑ "Flo Health, Inc". Federal Trade Commission. 2020-10-15. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  28. ↑ Schiffer, Zoe (2021-01-13). "Period tracking app settles charges it lied to users about privacy". The Verge. Retrieved 2021-01-14.
  29. ↑ Malik, Aisha (2022-09-14). "Period tracking app Flo rolls out 'Anonymous Mode' on iOS, Android launch coming next month". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  30. ↑ Faife, Corin (2022-09-14). "Flo period tracker launches "Anonymous Mode" to fight abortion privacy concerns". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  31. ↑ "Period tracker app Flo launches 'Anonymous Mode' for iOS devices". Engadget. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  32. ↑ "Period tracker Flo launches anonymous mode amid post-Roe privacy concerns". Healthcare Dive. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  33. ↑ Ali, Shirin (2022-09-15). "Reproductive health apps strengthened privacy, but serious risks remain". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-10-03.
  34. ↑ "Innovation Awards Honorees".
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