The Know Daily - Thursday 11 April 2024

_{Read in 5m 48s ∙ Listening to Peggy Gou ∙}

Giant anteaters are returning to southern Brazil, where they had been considered extinct for more than a century. It’s a “huge win” for the environment, said Mongabay, as the creatures play an important role in their ecosystems - and their much-celebrated return is being credited to a rewilding project in neighbouring Argentina.

👩‍💻 Fintech falls short

The fintech industry may be booming, but it’s falling short on gender equality. Here’s why that matters.

First things first - what’s fintech?
Fintech, or financial technology, refers to firms using new technologies to compete with traditional financial services. Big names include Klarna, Revolut and Monzo - and it’s big business, with the global fintech market projected to reach a value of $556bn by 2030.

Got it. But fintech has a gender problem?
Yep. Writing in The Conversation, academics Chloe Fox-Robertson and Dariusz Wojcik note a “striking underrepresentation” of women in top roles. Their research, published last month, found that women account for just 4% of CEOs and 7.7% of entrepreneurs within fintech. 

What’s the reason?
There are a few, but researchers summarise them as the “triple glass ceiling”: longstanding male dominance in the industry, the continued privileging of masculinity and rigid gender stereotypes.

This includes sexist assumptions that women will be less committed to the business if they have children - leading to less companies hiring women - and the prevalence of networking within the industry, which women are less likely to participate in due to caring responsibilities.

The fact that many fintechs are also startups is another barrier to equality, given that female-founded startups received less than 2% of all venture capital funding invested in Europe and the US in 2023.  

Why does this matter?
Fintechs claim to innovate - but researchers argue that this can’t happen if the same types of people remain in top roles. And, if there’s not enough diversity at the top, it makes it much harder for fintechs to meet the needs of the public they claim to serve.

Nevertheless, there are companies challenging the notion of a fintech ‘boys’ club’. Leading online pension provider PensionBee is female-led, while Anne Boden became the first female founder of a British bank when Starling gained its licence in 2016.

What else is going on?
Away from fintech, investment in femtech - companies which use technology to better women’s wellbeing - is moving in the right direction. The UK is becoming a “hotbed” for the sector, with female-founded startups such as Daye and Thyia (which offer at-home smear tests) giving women greater choice over their gynaecological healthcare.

💊 More treatments for migraines

Thousands of people in England are to be offered a daily pill that can halve migraine frequency. 

Tell me more. 
Atogepant - sold under the brand name Aquipta and made by AbbVie - can prevent both chronic and episodic migraines. In final draft guidance published on Thursday, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended the pill for use on the NHS in England. 

Atogepant would become the first oral treatment of its kind on the NHS, benefiting those who cannot have injectable treatments, for example due to allergies or a phobia of needles.

How does it work?
While the causes of migraines aren’t fully understood, changes in brain activity appear to play a role. In this instance, atogepant works by blocking the receptor of a sensory nerve protein in the head and neck, called CGRP. CGRP causes blood vessels to dilate, which may result in inflammation and migraine, explained The Independent.

Who will benefit?
It won’t be available to everyone who experiences migraines; instead, around 170,000 patients in England are expected to have access. NICE recommends atogepant as an option for adults who have at least 4 migraine days a month, and where at least 3 previous preventative treatments have failed.

The drug is already available in Scotland, noted the BBC.

Why does this matter?
With symptoms including pain, dizziness and difficulty speaking, migraines can have a “significant impact” on a person’s life - as well as place a burden on the NHS and wider economy, said The Guardian.

The Migraine Trust has called for “swift” access to the pill to ensure that patients can benefit “as quickly as possible”. If there are no appeals against its final draft guidance, NICE is expected to publish its final guidance on the drug next month - with access following soon after.

🤳 On the line: The UK government is considering banning the sale of smartphones to under 16s, as polls show significant public support for the measure. 

🇬🇷 Return trip: Greece has launched the first “free” holidays for thousands of tourists who were forced to leave Rhodes during the 2023 wildfires.  

🇪🇺 EU migration: The European Parliament narrowly approved a controversial and wide-reaching reform of the EU’s migration and asylum policy on Wednesday. 

⚖️ Julian Assange: US President Joe Biden said he is “considering” a request from Australia to drop the prosecution of the WikiLeaks founder.

🎲 Corner the market: Barbie star Margot Robbie is set to produce a “blockbuster” movie with Hasbro - and it’s based on the board game Monopoly.

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Trivia answer: C) World Athletics has said it will pay $50k to the 48 gold medallists at the Paris games this summer - making it the first sport to introduce prize money. 

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