Despite the challenging funding market, startups focused on women's health and menopause care continue to attract investors who see an untapped market.
GV, formerly Google Ventures, led a $25 million series A funding round in Midi Health, a virtual clinic delivering insurance-covered care for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause.
The startup, which launched about a year ago, focuses exclusively on women navigating midlife hormonal transition. Midi offers evidence-based interventions ranging from lifestyle coaching and supplements to prescription medications, all covered by major insurance providers.
Every Midi patient receives a personalized care plan based on her health history, including any history of breast and other female cancers, genetic risk factors, ethnicity and race. Care plans are holistic, combining hormonal and non-hormonal prescription medications, behavior change coaching, evidence-based supplements and integrative therapy recommendations.
The company initially launched in California and plans to use the fresh funding to expand operations nationwide and launch additional partnerships with some of the largest hospital systems in the country as well as major U.S. employers. Midi Health plans to expand its services to all 50 states by January 2024.
The startup also is rapidly expanding its team of clinicians trained in women’s health.
Midi recently announced a partnership with fertility benefits leader, Progyny, to bring midlife care to employers across the U.S. Current employer clients include Stanford University and ServiceNow, and agreements are in place with healthcare systems clients such as Lifepoint Health.
“It’s clear that menopausal symptoms can derail women’s lives. With far too few practitioners trained in managing menopause, women are underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underserved,” Joanna Strober, Midi Health CEO and founder, said in a press release announcing the funding round. "Midi provides an insurance-covered solution that focuses on women’s unique needs, closing a major gap in health access, quality and equity.”
The World Health Organization estimates that more than 50 million women in the U.S. are over the age of 51, the average age that menopause hits. Approximately 1.3 million women become menopausal each year. Hormonal changes during menopause often cause women to experience hot flashes, incontinence, sleep loss, mood changes and brain fog, and physical changes such as weight gain or loss, a slowing metabolism, and joint pain.
For women, managing menopause and perimenopause symptoms can be challenging both personally and professionally. In fact, a recent Mayo Clinic study found that 15% of women cut back on hours or missed work entirely due to their symptoms, costing them about $1.8 billion a year in lost wages.
The annual global economic impact of menopause, between productivity loss and healthcare costs, is estimated at $150 billion, Bloomberg reported.
There is clearly a huge business opportunity and also a need to fill gaps in care and overcome medical barriers for the millions of women experiencing menopause.
More than a third of peri-menopausal and menopausal women (39% and 31%, respectively) are experiencing symptoms of menopause that are affecting their quality of life, but many women do not seek the help they need, according to a new survey of 4,500 women aged 40 to 65 years spanning pre-, peri- and post-menopausal stages. The survey was conducted by consumer health company Kenvue.
For three years, GV, Alphabet's venture capital arm, has been looking at the menopause space. The firm has deployed almost $150 million in the women's health category, GV general partner Frédérique Dame told Fortune.
“Midi has seen meaningful traction since its launch and takes an innovative approach to address an unmet need for nearly half the global population,” said Dame in a statement. “Midi's world-class executive and advisory team has decades of clinical and healthcare expertise and a vision for personalized, affordable, and accessible midlife care. GV is proud to back Midi as they modernize perimenopause and menopause care for women everywhere.”
Dame and Cathy Friedman from GV joined current investors Felicis, Sempre Virens, Icon, 25M and Operator Collective, bringing the company’s total funding raised to date to $40 million, according to Midi Health.
Other startups are bringing much-needed attention, and investment dollars, to the women's health and menopause care space. Herself Health, run by former Amazon healthcare executive Kristen Helton, nabbed $26 million in funding this summer to provide primary care for women ages 65 and up.
Midday is one startup that developed a personalized menopause app to help people manage their menopause symptoms and midlife health.
A growing list of startups offer virtual and hybrid care for menopause symptoms including Elektra Health, Stella and Gennev. Evernow, a telehealth company focused on providing services for perimenopause and menopause, banked $28.5 million in funding last year.
Digital health startups such as Carrot Fertility, Maven Clinic, Parsley Health and Hello Heart also have expanded their offerings into menopause care.
There's a big focus on innovation with medical devices and wearables to help alleviate menopause symptoms. Embr Labs is a pioneer in this sector and developed the Embr Wave, a wearable that's a personalized cooling device for hot flashes.