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New York-based Maven Clinic is among the growing number of women’s health ventures helping to plug gaps in care and information since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Maven partners with employers and health plans to offer virtual consultations and access to specialists on fertility and family planning, pregnancy and postpartum care, mental health and menopause. Employers can select services for insured, partially insured and uninsured workers; individuals can also pay for consultations themselves. Maven partners with managed care organizations to serve low-income women on Medicaid.
Its $125 million Series F equity round was backed by StepStone Group, General Catalyst, Sequoia and others. Maven has raised more than $425 million since 2014, including a $90 million round in 2022 that closed after the Dobbs ruling.
Financing women’s health
Women-focused health tech ventures weathered the fundraising drought better than the broader health tech sector. But they still attract just 2% of health tech venture funding. Maven’s $90 million round accounted for 20% of all VC funding for women’s health in 2022.
New research has found that women’s health ventures led by women – that is, the majority – are less likely to get funding than those run by men.
“There is growing recognition of how under-invested women’s health has been historically and therefore the opportunity for innovation and significant returns,” said Erika Seth Davies of Rhia Ventures, an impact investment firm focused on reproductive and maternal health. Through RH Capital, Rhia has invested in more than 20 women’s health companies, including online mental health services provider Seven Starling.
Laurene Powell Jobs’ investment firm, Emerson Collective, in April led a $60 million round for Midi Health, which provides remote care for women going through perimenopause and menopause. Acclinate raised $7 million in May to work with pharmaceutical companies to conduct more diverse clinical trials to drive health equity.
