Brittany Barreto has had a rollercoaster of a year. She went from a startup founder in her second round of funding to sitting on the other side of that fundraising table.

Barreto, who is the venture associate at Capital Factory, has a Ph.D in genetics and founded the first nationwide DNA-based dating app called Pheramor. Last year, she had to close down the business due to changes in Apple's App Store's rules. Now that she's shifted from founder to helping founders, she's realized Houston needs more former-founder mentors like herself.

"I actually think Houston needs to figure out how to capitalize on these recycled founders and how to get them in more mentorship and leadership positions," Barreto says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We're in Houston, Texas, and the second question out of everyone's mouths is, 'How can I help you?'"

But that willingness to help only takes mentorship so far for founders who can learn a lot from people who've been in their exact position.

While she wants to see more of these types of mentors emerging in Houston, she also wants to see more of something else: Femtech. These types of startups focus on technology that improves the health and wellness of women, and Houston is poised to be a great hub for femtech — mainly because, well, nowhere else is yet.

Femtech has a lot of potential for investors and success because it's creating technology that's an aspirin and not a vitamin, Barreto says. People won't necessarily pay for and take vitamins, but when they need that aspirin, they'll pay what they can for it.

"Whenever I hear about new femtech companies, I think, 'why doesn't this exist yet?'" Barreto says. "That's why I'm really passionate about FemTech, because it's not something that's just nice to have."

Houston has several female-focused organizations that have emerged lately, but the next steps for the city as it develops as a hub for femtech is to establish a femtech-focused accelerator program and venture fund.

Barreto shares her thoughts on Houston, plus explains what makes Capital Factory different from other organizations in Houston. She also gives her advice on pitchdecks and how she's looking to better connect the dots between entrepreneurs and startup development organizations on the podcast. Listen to the full episode below — or wherever you get your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.