Metluma named in the AFR Fast Starters 100: why perimenopause care belongs in the productivity debate

Australian businesses are pouring money into AI to help their people work better. Far fewer have asked a simpler question. What would it be worth to help experienced women in their 40s feel well enough to do their jobs?

Across five employer programs, Metluma’s clinician-led perimenopause care has delivered independently assessed financial returns of $5 to $13 for every $1 invested, calculated using the Wellcast ROI© methodology. For context, Microsoft-sponsored IDC research in 2025 reported an average return of $2.80 for every $1 invested in generative AI.

This week, Metluma was named in the Australian Financial Review’s 2026 Fast Starters 100 list, the AFR’s annual ranking of Australia’s fastest-growing companies. We’re proud of it. We’re also clear about what sits behind our 200% growth: a gap in women’s health that awareness alone hasn’t closed.

The gap between perimenopause awareness and care

Perimenopause and menopause is finally being talked about at work. Many organisations now have a menopause policy, run awareness sessions and train their managers. That’s real progress.

But a workplace can do all of that and still leave its most experienced female leaders struggling to find care. She might recognise why she’s exhausted, sleeping badly or losing confidence in meetings. What she often doesn’t know is where to turn next.

That isn’t a failure of the people around her. General practice is stretched, and symptoms that affect sleep, mood, memory, weight and energy all at once need more time than a standard appointment usually allows. So the question that follows every awareness campaign goes unanswered: “I think this is happening to me. Who can help?”

That gap between recognising the problem and actually treating it is where Metluma is building its business.

How Metluma turns awareness into treatment

Metluma was co-founded by CEO Georgie Drury and Dr Nicole Avard, a GP who has spent two decades in women’s health. Their answer is a care pathway that joins up every step:

• Symptom assessment through the UMA40, which looks at 40 perimenopause and menopause symptoms
• Care led by doctors, with nurses and care coordinators alongside them
• A personalised treatment plan built around each woman’s symptoms and goals
• Education, so she understands what’s happening in her body
• Ongoing tracking and review, so her care changes as her symptoms do

Employers can fund access for their staff. So when a policy, a workshop or a quiet conversation with a manager reveals that someone needs support, there’s somewhere real to send her.

What is the ROI of menopause support at work?

Across five Australian employer programs, Metluma’s perimenopause and menopause care has returned between $5 and $13 for every $1 invested. The programs ran in FMCG, energy and utilities, logistics and transport, legal services, and engineering and professional services. Each result was assessed using Wellcast ROI©, a methodology established in 1993 that converts measured health outcomes into employer-specific financial impact, using inputs such as industry, region and workforce composition.

Our energy and utilities cohort shows what that looks like on the ground:

• 76% of participants showed measurable improvement from baseline
• 73% reported better sleep
• 70% reported less stress
• 70% said they were less likely to consider leaving their role because of health issues
• The program returned $13 for every $1 invested

That retention figure deserves a second look. When an experienced woman leaves, she takes years of knowledge, client relationships and judgement with her. Replacing that is slow and expensive, and the cost rarely shows up anywhere near a wellbeing budget. Which puts a fair business question on the table: what does it cost to leave experienced women managing this alone?

Is perimenopause care an overlooked productivity investment?

“Productivity” has become the word of the year in Australian business, and much of that conversation centres on technology.

Technology has a role, but it’s only as useful as the people using it. A senior manager who hasn’t slept properly in months, or who’s second-guessing herself because of brain fog she can’t explain, won’t get full value out of any tool. Helping her feel well is one of the more practical productivity decisions an employer can make, and the returns above show it stacks up commercially.

We’d like to see caring for the workforce take its place in the productivity debate, right alongside software and systems.

Growing our reach while keeping clinical care at the centre

Our next challenge is scale. We’re extending Metluma’s reach through partners who help women get to the right care at the right time:

• Clue: Metluma distributes Clue Plus, the premium version of the Clue cycle and health tracking app, in Australia.
• Everlab: our referral partner for complex women’s health cases. When women receive their Everlab results and want to take the next step, Metluma provides the clinical care.
• Mindplace by Bupa: a psychology referral partner, so mental health support is part of the pathway when women need it.
• Eir Women’s Health Accelerator: in October, Metluma was accepted into this Finland-based accelerator, connecting our work with the international women’s health community.

Every partnership is held to the same test. Wider reach only matters if the care behind it is clinically sound.

Talk to us

If you’re an employer exploring how to turn perimenopause awareness into accessible treatment, we’d love to hear from you. The same goes for journalists and partners interested in the commercial case for funding women’s health, and why caring for the workforce belongs in the productivity conversation.

Get in touch with our team or download our 2026 Women’s Midlife Health Report.

Frequently asked questions

What is the AFR Fast Starters 100?

The AFR Fast Starters 100 is the Australian Financial Review’s annual list of Australia’s fastest-growing companies, ranked on revenue growth. Metluma was named on the 2026 list.

How can employers support women through perimenopause and menopause?

Policies, awareness sessions and manager training are a strong start. What makes the biggest difference is access to clinician-led care, so that recognising symptoms leads to an assessment, a treatment plan and ongoing review. Employers can fund that access for their staff.

Does menopause support deliver a return for employers?

Across five Australian employer programs, Metluma’s care returned $5 to $13 for every $1 invested, independently assessed using the Wellcast ROI© methodology.