Virtual clinics fight gender health disparities 2023
After collecting $250 million from Oprah Winfrey, Natalie Portman, and Reese Witherspoon, the healthcare business Maven became the first femtech unicorn. Virtual clinic services for women and families include fertility, maternity and infant care, pediatrics, menopause, financial assistance, and mental health support. Over 175 nations have 15 million subscribers.
End-to-end Maven. “You can have that continuity of care, no matter what your path,” says CEO Kate Ryder. A London lady on our fertility track is receiving help. We’re supporting her with cross-border egg donation between Spain and the UK after she lost the pregnancy eight weeks in.
Ryder, a London Index Ventures associate, established the business in 2014. “I was hovering around digital health at the time and everyone was trying to crack patient engagement,” she recalls. “But a lot of these companies’ customers were female, and no one really focused on their health.”
Maven improves emergency medicine and maternity outcomes for women.
Today’s research demonstrates that women’s health care requirements are still overlooked. According to the UK Department of Health and Social treatment, one in five women experience postpartum depression but don’t receive mental health help, and four in five women who visit their doctor regarding menopause don’t receive the treatment they need.
Ryder aims to close the gender health gap. She said Maven offers more than 6,000 sessions a week, generally in under an hour, and members may choose their specialists.
Maven produced peer-reviewed research in The Lancet last year confirming their model works: Virtual ob-gyns reduced ER visits by 4.2 times, while Maven’s maternity care services reduced C-section rates by 27%.
Ryder said they conducted objective claims studies to see if a virtual model influences results. “We’re seeing the magic when we put all the pieces together.”
