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Telehealth usage in the last year has increased by 6,000%. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, health care providers and patients rapidly shifted to virtual visits from traditional office care to reduce infection rates. There are other fantastic benefits for patients: appointments when you want them, no travel time, and no paper gowns. The data are clear that we’ve reached a tipping point in both patient satisfaction and demand for telehealth visits.
Beyond the shifting of traditional healthcare to virtual platforms, the world of Direct to Consumer (D2C) Telehealth has expanded, particularly in the area of women’s health.
D2C companies connect people with healthcare providers directly via their app or website without a referral or relationship with an existing health system. Some are offered as part of a covered benefits package from an employer. Women can now quickly connect with a healthcare provider for pregnancy care, birth control prescriptions, mental health, lactation support and more. With women controlling 80% of healthcare spending and being 33% more likely to see a doctor than men it’s an obvious opportunity for investment and has seen a significant growth curve.
I spoke with Megan Zweig, COO of Rock Health, and Jasmine DeSilva, Research Manager at Rock Health about trends they are seeing in the funding of women’s telehealth companies.
According to the Rock Health team, “Between 2011 and 2015, women+ focused telemedicine startups did not raise any venture funding. In 2015, these startups raised $17M across just four deals. Fast forward to 2018, that number increased to $265M across eight deals. So far in 2021, women+ focused telemedicine startups raised $548M in funding across just five deals with an average deal size of $109.6M (triple that of 2018’s $33.1M average); this was spearheaded by Ro’s $500M mega-deal in March 2021.”
I’ve compiled a list of women’s health D2C companies. For those of you interested in seeing a healthcare provider, you’ll find visit costs and clinical specialties. I’ve also included each company’s investment stage and funding raised.
I want to share a few observations I had when conducting this research.
SEO: Clinics near me showed up first, such as UNC Virtual Doctor’s Visits (Women’s Health) and independent OB-GYN practices. I didn’t see many of the companies listed below appear in the first few pages of search results. I had to review my own personal FemTech research files, sift through over 350 companies tagged as ‘telemedicine’ on CrunchBase, Rock Health data, a FemTech Insider database, and MobiHealthNews archives to pull a robust list together. This indicates that there is a lot of room for expansion of SEO and marketing efforts by these D2C telehealth companies to get in front of patients.
Inclusivity: Let’s face it, a lot of tech companies think everyone has the latest iPhone just like they do. Apple actually holds 44% of the smartphone market share in the US, where Android carries the majority at 56%. That’s the breakdown of the 85% of Americans with smartphones, but we are still looking at 15% with ‘regular’ cell phones. From both a health equity and market proliferation standpoint, telehealth companies should have multiple means to connect patients and providers, like text, voice, and video, and app options.
Finally, the pandemic led to updated national legislation around reimbursement of telehealth visits, which are now reimbursable at the same rate as in-person visits.
Primary Care Big Hitters:
Specialty: Full list available on the website, but mostly urgent care/ primary care needs, sexual health, and behavioral health.
Patient Cost: $79 Urgent Care copay out of pocket, reduced with insurance coverage depending on the provider
Funding: Public: AMWL. Total previous funding amount, $811 Million
K Health is a unique company. Patients text with an AI-powered chatbot that references a body of anonymized notes, lab results, treatments and care plans and are then triaged to live texting with a doctor. The doctor can then prescribe medications or order lab tests.
Patient Cost: $19/ visit or $9/ month for unlimited visits with a membership plan.
Funding: Series E, $271.3 Million
Specialties: Non-urgent medical care, dermatology, therapy, psychiatry
Patient Cost: $0 to $82 per medical visit, depending on insurance
Funding: $198.6 million. Acquired by Evernorth
https://mdlnext.mdlive.com/home
A digital health website that helps patients find in-person or telehealth visits with upfront pricing.
Specialties: Family Medicine, Primary Care, Mental Health, Pediatrics, Dermatology
Patient Cost: Varies by visit type, a quick search for telehealth primary care visits was between $39- $45.
Funding: Series B, $47.6 Million
Primary Care Focused on Women’s Health
Specialty: Telehealth and referrals for in-person diagnostics and specialists for women’s health needs. Also provide general primary care services.
Patient Cost: Varies by appointment type.
Funding: Series C, $172 Million
Specialty: Birth control pills, UTIs, acne, primary care, mental health
Patient Cost: $39/ visit
Funding: part of hims&hers. Now publicly traded as HIMS. Raised $233.2 Million
Modernizing healthcare for women of color
Specialty: general women’s health and wellness
Patient Costs: unlisted
Funding: Pre-seed, $150,000
Online doctor’s office and medicine delivery
Specialty: Anxiety, Depression, Insomnia, Erectile Dysfunction, Birth Control, Hair loss, Acne, UTI, Cold Sore, High Blood Pressure, Hot Flashes, Migraine, Smoking Cessation, Flu, Cholesterol, STD Testing, A1C
Patient Cost: $25 for most, Depression and Anxiety is a monthly fee with consultations and medications
Funding: Series B, $57.5
Maven began as a D2C women’s health company and now is primarily marketing itself as a covered benefit for employers. There are still family subscription plans.
Patient Cost: Varies based upon the reason for the visit
Funding: Series C, $85.1 Million
Specialty: Virtual care for prescriptions including birth control, skincare, migraine treatment, PrEP, and STI testing with prescriptions delivered to the home.
Patient Cost: Varies based upon visit type and prescription.
Funding: Series C, $115.9 Million
Concierge Medicine
Patient Cost: $175/ month
Funding: Series B, $36 Million
Rory:
Specialty: Skin and Eyelashes, Sexual Health, Menopause, Daily health (allergies, weight management)
Patient Cost: dependent on visit type
Funding: Sub of Ro: Series D, $876.1 million
Mental Health
Candlelit provides culturally relevant perinatal mental healthcare made simple
Specialty: mental health screening, 1-1 therapy, care plans, virtual mom community
Patient Cost: $25/ visit
Funding: private
In the Ginger App, members connect with behavioral health coaches (therapist or psychiatrist 24/7, 365 days a year.)
Patient Cost: No D2C option. It’s available as a covered benefit by an employer. Pricing isn’t listed on the website but a third party source estimated $149- $349 a month for company fees.
Funding: Series E: $220.7 Million
Specialty: Women’s Health, Pediatrics, Primary Care, Same-day care,
Patient Cost: In-network, out of network, and out of pocket fees Ex: preventative care $0- $175-245 Can pay with Flex spending account and Health Saving account
Funding: Seed, $50K
Real:
The Real mental health membership includes information, therapist resources, and community-based upon different pathways, such as anxiety, relationships, and depression.
Patient Cost: starts at $28/month
Funding: Series A, $10 Million
Birth Control/ Fertility
Specialty: Virtual care for PCOS patients
Patient Costs: $100/ month, billed every 3 months
Funding: Seed, $3 Million
Specialty: Abortion pill delivery/ telehealth consults
Patient Costs: $249
Funding: private
Specialty: Virtual visits for birth control prescriptions
Patient Cost: $15- $35
Funding: PreSeed, undisclosed
Planned Parenthood provides telehealth visits for birth control, PreEP, emergency contraception, HIV Testing, STI testing, and UTI testing and treatment
Patient Costs: Accepts insurance out of pocket vary based upon visit type and treatment.
Funding: Nonprofit
Specialty: Telehealth consults for birth control prescriptions
Patient Cost: $20/year membership. Birth control prescriptions are either free by being covered by insurance or $7 a month without insurance.
Funding: Series B, $26 Million
Specialty: A digital health company offering affordable access and convenience for women’s sexual and reproductive healthcare
Patient Costs: One $20/ year fee, insurance $0 for Birth Control. Out of pocket: $16/ month.
Funding: Seed, $5.1 Million
Specialty: Patient answers a questionnaire reviewed by the medical team for mail order Birth Control prescriptions.
Patient Cost: $0 (if covered by insurance) to starting at $8.95/ month out of pocket
Funding: Series B, $103.6 Million
Lactation Support and Breastfeeding
Specialty: Connecting mothers who are breastfeeding with lactation consultants
Patient Cost: Accepts insurance plans, but check with your individual plan’s lactation support coverage.
Funding: Seed, $2.1 million
Specialty: App-based video tele-lactation support.
Patient Cost: Pacify memberships are available for free through many employer family benefits, health plans, and public health programs like WIC across the country.
Funding: Seed, $1 million
Acquired by Avantia Health, $49.7 Million
https://www.advantiahealth.com/
Specialty: telehealth virtual breastfeeding support for new and pregnant parents.
Patient Cost: $50-$150 per visit
Funding: Private
(Disclosure: the author of this article has previously consulted for SimpliFed)
Menopause
Specialty: Evidence-based menopause care for the 21st-century woman. Includes health education, provider visits, and community.
Patient Costs: Service prices vary and start at $99.
Funding: Seed, $3.7 Million
Gennev :
Specialty: Gennev is an online clinic for women in menopause that offers telehealth and menopause health supplements.
Patient Costs: $45- $85 per visit
Funding: Seed, $4.5 Million
Pregnancy / Postpartum
Specialty: Health coaching and education for families through the journey of preconception to parenthood.
Patient Costs: Covered benefit for employers.
Funding: $84 Million
Specialty: Connecting moms and pregnancy and postpartum care providers with private messaging, linked records for mom and baby, care plans, virtual follow-ups, health education and support groups.
Patient Costs: Starts as a free trial for 30 days, and then $49/ month
Funding: Seed, $3 million
Specialty: The digital platform transforming episodic care into continuous support while improving family wellbeing and fostering positive outcomes. This includes menstruation tracking, pregnancy tracking, curated health information, health coaching and concierge medicine.
Patient Costs: Pregnancy tracking app is free, health coaching and concierge medicine is a covered benefit model
Funding: $11 million
Oula
Connected with Mt. Sinai hospital, and offers in-person and virtual preconception counseling, prenatal care, and childbirth education. Focus on equitable and inclusive care.
Patient Costs: Insurance coverage accepted, doula and coaching sessions start at $75.
Funding: Seed, $3 million
Poppy Seed Health offers on-demand text access to doulas, midwives, and nurses.
Patient Costs: $29/ Month subscription
Funding: Pre Seed: $1.6 Million
Specialty: Maternal health care, including a free text chat with a care coordinator, and telehealth visits.
Patient Costs: Text chat is free, coverage of visits depends on insurance plans.
Funding: Seed, undisclosed amount
LGBTQIA+
Specialty: The first digital provider made specifically for the medical needs of the LGBTQIA+ community in need of prescriptions. Currently just hormone replacement therapy and/or erectile dysfunction medication.
Patient Costs: $59/ month + prescription costs
Funding: Series A: $29.4 Million
Specialty: Mental health therapy for LGBTQIA+ people. Available on an app or their website which enables messaging and live conversations via chat, phone or video calls.
Patient Costs: Subscription between $60-90 a week. There are available discounts based on financial status.
Funding: Unavailable
Chronic Disease
Specialties: Paloma Health is the first digital medical practice helping hypothyroid patients better manage and treat their chronic condition.
Patient Costs: Subscription for $20/ month or pay as you go for tests and consultations with a doctor
Funding: Seed $2.5 million
Virtual endocrinology clinic specializing in thyroid diseases and treatment
Patient Cost: $5-$70 a month for subscription plans, or pay as you go offerings as well.
Funding: private
About the author:
Katie D. McMillan, MPH is the CEO of Well Made Health. Well Made Health helps female founders daring to improve healthcare grow their company and brand. Katie has worked with lean startups, complex medical centers, and rigorous researchers to create and bring to market delightful and functional mobile apps and websites. She writes frequently on femtech, entrepreneurship, and digital health.
