In 2018, when we launched the first women’s health venture capital fund, I was told there were no women’s health companies, only women’s health products, and few real innovations—or returns—would ever come in women’s health.

Today, women’s health is considered the most promising investment space in health-care venture capital investing. McKinsey tells us that women’s health is a trillion-dollar market opportunity, and Silicon Valley Bank noted a 400 percent increase in investment in women’s health innovation. The White House has announced $300 million in women’s health research, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) all have special research agendas focused on women’s health.

What’s driving this surge? The answer lies in the power of collaboration. Public, private, and governmental partnerships are playing a pivotal role in advancing women’s health innovation, unlocking new opportunities, and driving the growth of this promising sector.

Government Partnerships: The NIH and the National Science Foundation (NSF) play a crucial role in driving more research initiatives in women’s health, allowing innovations to be tested and validated for the marketplace. I had the unique opportunity to lead a commercialization task force with the NSF, focused on advancing the use of non-dilutive Small Business Innovation Research Grants, particularly for women and people of color. These research funds often serve as the critical first step in launching innovations when they are not yet proven, providing a key bridge to securing additional private-sector investment.

“Women are the essential force driving progress in women’s health.”

Incubators and Accelerators: Partnering with incubators and accelerators focused on women’s health, such as Springboard Enterprises, is critical to building and preparing emerging teams and setting strategies at the earliest stages. These organizations can identify the right advisors and understand the particular benefits and unique challenges women’s health businesses must overcome for success.

Corporate Partners: Corporate partners can enhance or curtail women’s health innovation. For example, advertising and social campaigns are a critical lever in getting new solutions to the marketplace. Although you see countless commercials and content on male health issues, such as erectile dysfunction or Peyronie’s disease, similar educational or marketing campaigns referring to the woman’s body—pelvic floor, vaginal dryness, painful periods, or sex—face major challenges and are summarily removed by these important communications sites. This creates a missed opportunity for women, clinicians, and health companies. However, with corporate support, some of the most successful innovations in women’s health are thriving.

The Growth Investment Ecosystem: Key to the growth of women’s health companies is partnering with key stakeholders to educate and rally others in the investment ecosystem (i.e., the growth stage investors). These private equity professionals, analysts, and investment banks are critical for the continued growth of these innovative companies as they move from idea, concept, proof, and market to national and global growth.

The most crucial partners in advancing women's health innovation are women themselves. As boomer males pass away, about $9 trillion is being transferred to women, who are increasingly taking control of their wealth. At Portfolia, thousands of women have invested over $70 million in women’s health companies, many of whom are health-care professionals seeking better solutions for their patients. These women understand that if they are not involved in shaping health-care decisions, their health and well-being will be at risk.

Here are four key steps that women can take today for change:

1) Enroll in clinical studies for women’s health. I’m currently a study subject for the University of California, San Francisco’s multimillion-dollar, 10-year atrial fibrillation study, funded by Mark Cuban and the NIH. Our companies are currently conducting studies on dementia, osteopenia, overactive bladder syndrome, and the first male birth control pill.

2) Invest in innovative women’s health companies. New investing models now let us invest as little as $10,000 as angels or into venture funds focused on women’s health. Collectively, we’re shifting the health of women.

3) Choose to work with companies and organizations that advocate for women’s health, leading with investments, resources, and actions to enhance women’s health. We are critical participants in the economy today.

4) Support national and global leaders who put women’s health on the top of their agenda, not with lip service but with detailed action steps and significant investment dollars.

Margaret Atwood, the renowned author of The Handmaid's Tale, was asked at a meeting to predict the immediate future for American women based on her extensive study of women's lives throughout history. Paraphrasing her response, she emphasized that the only certainty is that your future will be shaped by the choices each of us makes today. We have the power to invest in a brighter future for women's health, and now is the time to take decisive action.