Fast-growing digital health company partners with Sequoia and Oak HC/FT to expand access to its popular health services, including fertility, maternity and return-to-work care
Maven, a digital health company focused on bringing women and families better access to healthcare, today announced $27 million in Series B funding led by Sequoia Capital and Oak HC/FT with participation from existing investors Spring Mountain Group, 14W, and Female Founders Fund. The new round of financing brings the company’s total funding to $42 million and will help Maven enhance its flagship product, Maven’s Family Benefits platform, which supports working mothers and new parents with everything from fertility through return-to-work care, and is currently offered by employers like Snap, Cleary, Protective Life, and Bumble. Sequoia partner Jess Lee and Oak HC/FT partner Nancy Brown will join the Maven board.
The company also announced today that it has expanded its return-to-work care products with the introduction of a breastmilk shipping service. The new service, combined with the existing Maven healthcare platform, will provide more working mothers and parents with the support they need to return to work comfortably and successfully.
“In a system that desperately needs reform, focusing on the core patient—women—and starting with the core experience of millennials starting families, is critical.” said Kate Ryder, CEO and founder of Maven. “This is the beginning of long-overdue change in our healthcare system, and in society at large. At Maven, we’re just getting started.”
More than 40 percent of American women who give birth leave the workforce - some by choice, but some by necessity due to the lack of adequate support from employers, health plans and healthcare providers. Even though women represent nearly half of the labor force in the U.S. and gender diverse companies outperform competition by 15 percent, less than a quarter of senior leadership is female and women are paid an average of 80.5 percent less than their male counterparts. The modern and evolving family is similarly left to fend for itself or else opt-out, leading to a less diverse workforce.
“There are so few companies out there tackling hard-to-solve women’s health challenges that are founded by women. Maven has done an amazing job creating a healthcare solution that helps give women the support they need at work,” said Jess Lee, partner at Sequoia. “I’m excited to collaborate with Kate and the Maven team to usher in an era of modern health services for today’s working families.”
Founded in 2014, Maven operates the largest digital women’s and family health provider network, with highly-vetted providers that range from OB-GYNs to women’s health physical therapists to career coaches, to give quick, on-demand access to healthcare wherever someone is, whenever they need it. Maven’s B2B offering for employers and health plans, Maven’s Family Benefits platform, modernizes family planning for millions of working women and families with high-touch, inclusive programs for everything from adoption to IVF to maternity care to tracks for Dads.
Maven works with global companies that range in size from 200 to 200,000+ people, has grown 14x in the last 12 months, has delivered care to more than 150,000 patients, and was used in 166 countries in the last year. For practitioners, Maven provides the flexibility and modern tools they need to better support patients and clients, and deliver outstanding, low-friction care.
“In an economy where unemployment is low and competition for talent is fierce, companies can’t afford to lose experienced, accomplished women due to a lack of available healthcare options and services,” said Annie Lamont, co-founder and managing partner of Oak HC/FT. “Maven offers progressive and innovative companies the ability to provide women with the benefits they need to make starting a family and returning to work a viable option, thereby reducing one of the major sources of talent drain in the US economy.”
“Maven is offering services that are a win for working women, a win for their families, a win for employers and a win for the global economy,” said Nancy Brown, partner with Oak HC/FT. “By providing outstanding fertility, maternity and return-to-work support, Maven can help close the gap and encourage a more diverse workforce.”
About Maven
Maven is the only virtual clinic dedicated to women’s and family health. Named one of Fast Company’s “10 Most Innovative Healthcare Companies in 2018,” Maven’s leading family benefits platform advances women in the workplace and makes it easier for parents to start and grow a family during a critical time in their careers. Maven’s platform gives on-demand access to best-in-class women’s and family health specialists, and makes it affordable and easy to get advice, diagnoses, and even prescriptions via video appointments, private messaging, and community-based forums. Maven operates both an on-demand consumer marketplace in addition to its family benefits platform, which offers programs around fertility, adoption, maternity, and return-to-work. Maven was founded in 2014 by Katherine Ryder, has raised more than $42m, and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Oak HC/FT, Spring Mountain Capital, 14W, 8VC, The Box Group, and Female Founders Fund, among others.