With their first product, Nettle, Samphire targets the neurological drivers of PMS symptoms through a sleek headband that stimulates areas of the brain linked to mood and pain. It’s incredible. It means there’s finally a solution that means less pain, more mental clarity, and fewer mood swings. All without hormones, painkillers, or side effects.
The product and overlooked market captured our attention, but as early-stage investors, we invest in people. And it’s never been more clear that this is the team that will take this area of female healthcare into the future.
Few could have created Samphire
CEO and co-founder Emilė Radytė has one of the most exceptional founder trajectories we’ve encountered. Emilė’s instinct to care for people was shaped early by deeply personal experiences, particularly witnessing firsthand the systemic inefficiencies and unmet needs within the Lithuanian political system, leading her to found a NGO in her teens.
Her relentless drive carried her from her hometown outside Vilnius, through Harvard (graduating with a perfect GPA while juggling multiple jobs) to a neuroscience PhD at Oxford. Her ability to bend reality is manifested by launching Samphire’s medically regulated hardware-software product within just three years on only €2M, and makes it impossible to bet against her. Her obsession with addressing the gap in women’s healthcare is palpable, deeply rooted in empathy and scientific rigor.
Her co-founder, Alex Cook, complements Emilė with tactical precision, legal acumen, and a sharp operational mindset. Driven by continuous problem-solving, Alex left behind a prestigious offer at BCG, motivated by a powerful chip-on-the-shoulder dynamic. Together, their partnership thrives on profound trust, exceptional alignment of mission, and relentless dedication to solving deeply personal and complex healthcare challenges.
Benefiting the many
Samphire’s first product, Nettle, is the world’s first medical-grade, drug- and hormone-free solution for PMS and menstrual pain. Using non-invasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), Nettle directly targets the neurological drivers of PMS symptoms.
Backed by 30+ years of research and their own clinical trials, the results are striking: 72% of users report a significant reduction in pain within the first month — with zero side effects. The resulting love from users is clear, with “life-changing” being a recurring themes in Trustpilot reviews, and over 14,000 people on the waitlist.
Most users wear Nettle for just 20 minutes a day, during their luteal phase. This is all facilitated through the Samphire app, which goes beyond predicting your cycle — even predicting how you’ll feel. By tracking mood, cognitive, and physical symptoms, users can receive personalized insights to help manage their daily life.
This is just the start. Samphire has already proved that women’s health deserves better than the status quo, and by applying serious science to women’s health challenges, Samphire will create a vertically integrated ecosystem of products and services addressing not only PMD and PMS but overall chronic pain and broader menstrual health needs — with Nettle being the wedge product.
Get yourself a Nettle
Over the past decade, we’ve seen a proliferation of wearables and health tracking tools, but most just provide insight, they don’t intervene. Think about the sleep tracker that just tells you how bad you slept, but doesn’t do anything to help you sleep better.
Samphire represents the next wave of consumer healthcare: delivering actionable, data-driven integrated care. With growing frustration around the limits of the current femtech landscape, there is real demand — and now, finally, real capability — to close the care gap.
Read more about Nettle, and plug into the Samphire Neuroscience ecosystem here.
