Maven Clinic Raises $45M Series C to Accelerate Women’s Access to Healthcare
Today, Female Founders Fund portfolio company Maven Clinic announced their $45M Series C round led by Icon Ventures with participation by Sequoia Capital and Oak HC/FT Healthcare, marking one of the largest-ever funding rounds for a female founded women’s healthcare company.
We recently sat down with Founder & CEO Katherine Ryder to discuss how the women’s healthcare landscape has changed, her tactical fundraising tips, the value of persistence ,and what’s on the horizon for Maven in this new stage of growth. Read the full Q&A below.
Congratulations on closing Maven’s Series C round! What’s on the horizon for Maven with this new stage of growth and financing?
Thank you! And thank you so much for your support and advice from the early stages of our business. Maven will use this investment to continue accelerate our business growth globally and enable millions more women and families to access the healthcare and support they deserve through their parenting journey. We’re launching a few new products this year (more soon!) and doubling down on our core family benefits platform: supporting families going through fertility, maternity, return-to-work, and early pediatrics.
To rewind a bit, tell us the backstory around how and why you started Maven. What was your inspiration as someone who has truly led the charge on developing women’s healthcare as a category.
I was living in London and working for a venture capital firm covering digital health investments and tech. My friends were starting to have children and I was seeing firsthand their experiences with a broken healthcare system. Even though healthcare is a primarily female market (women drive 80% of the decision making) it wasn’t built to support women, especially women in the workforce. I wanted to fill in the gaps in the healthcare system and help women and parents thrive in their careers as they go through one of the biggest medical and life-changing experiences: starting and growing a family.
What are Maven’s current offerings? Any new initiatives in the pipeline that you’re particularly excited about?
Our core offering is a family benefits platform we sell to employers and health plans to help families go through fertility, adoption, pregnancy, return-to-work, and early parenting. Our model of care is built on delivering high touch, human-centered care that is data driven as well as deeply clinical and personalized. We do this by providing a dedicated Care Coordinator who acts as a patient advocate and we have the largest virtual network of clinical, behavioral, and wellness providers across more than 20 specialties that are available wherever you are, whenever you need them.
I’m excited about our recent launch of Maven Wallet, a tool for employers to handle reimbursement for fertility treatments, egg freezing, adoption and surrogacy while also making the financial experience seamless for individuals.
How has the women’s healthcare landscape changed since Maven’s launch in 2014?
Women’s health went from being a perceived “niche” area of healthcare to being a focal point of American companies, health plans, and policymakers alike. Over $1 billion has been invested in women’s health companies over the last 5 years as a result. We’re thrilled to see this commitment from investors and healthcare executives — and think the next ten years will be very promising for the category.
How has Maven’s strategy changed or pivoted since launch, and why?
I think what’s been most impressive is how quickly the market has adapted to prioritize an inclusive women’s and family health solution. We had our family benefits platform in early pitch decks, but the early years of selling our product was incredibly hard. We had one product, Maven Maternity, a 15-month program that included postpartum and return-to-work support for both parents. The concept of “return-to-work” was new. Not many people were talking about fertility or adoption or pediatrics/children’s health. Then, suddenly, over the last few years, the market not only adapted “return-to-work” as a needed solution, but has also demanded solutions for the entire family. It’s been amazing to see how quickly mindsets have shifted, and what that means for the patient.
Where do you see the biggest opportunity for process improvement and change in the way the U.S. takes care of women?
The U.S. is facing a maternal health crisis. We’re the only developed country with a rising maternal mortality rate and we do not have policies or systems in place to support women before, during or after pregnancy. 50% of U.S. counties do not have an ObGyn and 56% of counties do not have a nurse-midwife. I think that fundamental clinical needs and a lack of coordination in women’s healthcare are still left out of the core care model and access to providers is limited because of geographical, financial or other restrictions. For instance: maternal mental health, pelvic floor therapy, breastfeeding support -these are all providers that should be available easily to women when they get pregnant and have babies because they’re fundamental to prenatal and postpartum care. But most of these types of providers are not reimbursable, nor available in many parts of America or the broader world.
Why is it important that the user experience for women is designed by women?
I think it’s important to have diverse voices at the table — both men and women. But in the past, there weren’t any women’s voices around the table designing women’s health products, so I’m thrilled that this has changed and the products are better for it.
Any tactical fundraising tips for other founders raising their Series C? What is the most important lesson you’ve learned along the way?
Everyone wants to better understand your exit plan over the next 5 years, given that you’re presumably a mature business at this point with a certain amount of capital invested. So whether you’re looking to get acquired or IPO the business, know what each path takes and what you need to do to be successful.
What are the unique qualities you’ve seen in successful founders? Which are you particularly aware of in yourself?
Persistence is everything. Start-ups are full of ups and downs, so you just have to ride the waves and keep going. I suppose I have a certain amount of resilience to be so persistent.