Maven Clinic, a female-founded company focused on women's and family health, has reached unicorn status, a first for the sector.
Its $110 million series D funding round also was backed by a female investor, Deena Shakir, partner at Lux Capital, and got a boost from Orpah Winfrey as a new backer.
The company attracted other high-profile investors in its series C round last year, including Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman, Mindy Kaling and 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki.
The round was co-led by Dragoneer Investment Group and Lux Capital, with participation from BOND and existing investors Sequoia, Oak HC/FT and Icon Ventures.
Maven Clinic, launched in 2014, is a virtual clinic for women's and family health, offering care for fertility, pregnancy and parenting. The company has supported more than 10 million women and families to date, according to executives, and has raised more than $200 million.
Building on its momentum with global employers and payers, Maven plans to use the cash infusion to expand into new populations and to invest in additional product innovation to further enhance its member experience designed to improve clinical outcomes.
Women's and family health has been "under-researched, under-sized, and under-innovated," according to Kate Ryder, founder and CEO of Maven. "As a result, it's profoundly underperforming, failing patients during some of the most challenging times in their lives."
"With the support of our new and existing investors, Maven will be able to deliver on the promise of digital health for women and families everywhere, offering personalized care that meets them where they are," she said.
"The digital era for women's and family health has arrived," Ryder said.
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Funding for women-focused digital health startups rose 105% in 2020 to $418 million and was spread across 22 companies, nearly twice the number from a year earlier, according to Rock Health, a San Francisco-based seed and early-stage venture fund.
The company combines a specialized telehealth network of more than 30 provider types with individual care navigation to support all parents and all paths to parenthood, from fertility through pregnancy, parenting and pediatrics, according to executives.
Maven's services also include care advocates to help members navigate the complexities of the family-building journey: from managing high-risk fertility and maternity patients to ensuring integration with existing benefits.
"We have been searching for a long time for the right company in women's and family health, as we believe this is one of the defining categories in healthcare. In the process, we evaluated hundreds of companies and Maven stood out as the clear category winner poised to lead the sector," said Lux Capital's Shakir in a statement.
"Individual point solutions fail to address the bigger unmet need: while the path to parenthood is unique to each family, it is a source of emotional, physical, and financial stress to nearly every family. Maven is the only platform that effectively serves parenthood journeys in all their depth and diversity, solving for the patient, employer and payer with one elegant solution," Shakir said.
Shakir and Eric Jones, partner at Dragoneer Investment Group, are both joining Maven's board of directors.
In late February, Maven began offering fertility drug delivery to its members in a partnership with pharmacies Alto and SMP. The drug delivery program, called MavenRx, helps address two of the more challenging aspects of the fertility journey: the high cost of fertility medications and complexity around managing a strict regimen, including self-administration of injections, Sonia Millsom, chief commercial officer at Maven, said in a statement.
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Maven has seen rapid growth and significantly increased its client base across employers and payers. The company partners with four new Fortune 15 clients, including Microsoft, with membership in Maven's employer and payer-sponsored programs increasing 400%.
The company says it has a near 100% retention rate among existing clients like Boston Scientific, Booz Allen Hamilton and L'Oreal. Quality and accessibility have also remained high, with 27-minute average wait times for same-day appointments and a 4.9/5 appointment satisfaction rating across all specialties.
Maven's model has been externally validated to drive better clinical outcomes, including lower neonatal intensive care unit admissions and unnecessary caesarean section rates when compared to national averages, executives said.
"With the largest network of providers, demonstrated success with marquee employers, and focus on improving clinical outcomes, we believe Maven is the clear choice for both employers and payers," Jones said. "Maven's model, coupling technology with clinical providers, is powerful in providing the right care at the right time and changing the way we think about care delivery. The high utilization and engagement on Maven's platform speak to the pressing need Maven solves. We've never seen such outstanding 'customer love,' especially in healthcare. We are excited to partner with Kate and her team as they continue to change the face of women's health and family care."