maven launches the first telemedicine platform made for women with $2.2 million in seed

maven, atelemedicine app that caters to the healthcare needs ofwomen, launched out of beta today with$2.2 million in seed funding. investors include great oaksventure capital, boxgroup, f cubed, and several angels including wordpress founder matt mullenweg, former gilt groupe and aol exec susan lyne, and gerson founder thomas lehrman.maven founder kate ryder was working as a vc at index ventures when she came up with the idea for a digital healthcare app for women.
“a lot of my friends started having kids, so i started doing some research. after speaking to many women in their 20s and 30s, i found that what was out there didn’t have specific focus on women’s health.”like other telemedicine platforms such as doctor on demand and healthtap, maven allows those on the appto ask questions, browse health discussions, or booka video appointment with a health practitioner. the key difference is thattheydon’t specifically focus on women’s health.
i found that what was out there didn’t have a specific focus on women’s health. kate ryder
women make up the majorityofhealthcare decisions. nearly 80 percent of women pick the family doctor, bring the kids to appointments and make the decisions for the family, according to figuresfrom the national partnership for women and families. ryder believes this section of the populationdeserved something that focuses on their specific needs for that reason.it made sense to ryder to couple her idea with therapidly growing telemedicine industry, which is already a $23 billion marketand is projected to grow more than 18 percent in the next five years.ryderquit her vc job a year ago and wentto work on building a telehealth platform for women. she now has a 10-person team madeup of half men andhalf women. shealsosays about 98 percent of the more than 300 doctors, physical therapists and nurse practitioners on the app are women.
maven’s price point is also a bit lower than other telemedicine platforms. doctor on demandis $40 per virtual visit. healthtap pricing runs from $44 a visit to $99 per month on the platform. ryder includes nurse practitioners and physical therapists and says the appointment price can go as low as $18 per visit for that reason.”we found a particularly strong need around prenatal and postpartum care, as wellas childcare or pulling long hours at the office,” ryder said. “that’s why we’ve worked with so many different types of practitioners to create a product that offers women the healthcare they need, exactly when they need it.”maven’smain focus is on healthcare topics for women of childbearing age.this includes trouble conceiving, pregnancy andpostpartum issues such as lactation, pelvic rehabilitation and depression.
fertility tracking startupglow also offers supporton postpartum issues for women on its glow nurture app. while it doesn’t hook women up with a doctor’s visit, it does offer support and advice on where to get help should depression become an issue.ryder mentioned mavenwill eventually work with other apis to pull in vital data and that there will be more services added to support women of every stage of life in the future. she is currently testing a few things out with teenage girls who, ryder says, have “a lot of potentially embarrassing questions.”