Jacqueline Davalos, Bloomberg News Kate Ryder, founder and c of Maven Clinic Co., stands for a photograph following a Bloomberg Technology television interview in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, May 1, 2019. Ryder discussed the startup s telemedicine services for women. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg , Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) Once considered too niche or risky by the venture capital community, womenâs health startups have seen a surge in investments as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed more services online.
Funding for women-focused digital-health startups rose 105% last year to $418 million and was spread across 22 companies, nearly twice the number from a year earlier, according to Rock Health, a San Francisco-based seed and early-stage venture fund. The firm tracks deals of $2 million or more among U.S.-based digital-health companies. It counts 55 companies in the femtech category, whic
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Kate Ryder says that when she was first raising money for Maven Clinic, an on-demand digital care clinic for women and families, the friends-and-family round came together pretty easily. But that was 2014, and Ryder was in London.
By 2016, Ryder and her company were both based in the U.S. She thought the pitch that helped her raise money in London would be persuasive in the U.S., too.: Health care is one of the largest industries in the country. Women control 80 percent of a family s health care spend. Ryder says Millennial women spend 70 percent more on health than Millennial men.