Northwell Holdings, the investment arm of New York-based health system Northwell Health, and startup studio Aegis Ventures announced Thursday they had signed an agreement to launch Upliv, a virtual menopause care company.

Upliv is the first company formed through Northwell and Aegis' partnership focused on equity in women's healthcare. In April, the startup studio announced plans to invest at least $100 million in seed funding toward these joint ventures with Northwell.

Upliv is expected to receive $8.4 million in seed capital through the end of 2023. The startup will offer telehealth consultations with doctors and nurse practitioners, access to health coaches, prescriptions and patient communities. 

Upliv will pilot its services through a program with select nurses at Northwell Health, followed by an enterprise-wide rollout early next year. 

"Many women going through menopause are not getting the care they deserve. The symptoms of perimenopause and menopause can range from moderate to debilitating," Upliv CEO Allison Schoeneck said in a statement.

"Too often, those symptoms are dismissed. Menopause can disrupt our daily lives and has serious implications for our health. Through Upliv, we are providing evidence-based treatments and whole-person support to help women manage their health."

THE LARGER TREND

Northwell and Aegis announced plans to work together in October 2021, then with a focus on using AI to address quality, equity and cost problems in healthcare. At the time, they said they had begun research on maternal health outcomes and chronic disease prediction.

According to a recent report by Silicon Valley Bank, women's health tech companies raised $877 million in the U.S. and European Union through the end of September this year, already ahead of 2020's full-year investment and a dip from last year. Much of those funds were funneled toward fertility and pregnancy-focused companies.

However, there are other menopause care startups on the market. In April, Evernow announced it had raised $28.5 million to hire more staffers, build its member community and develop its product. 

Unified Women's Healthcare recently acquired digital menopause care platform Gennev, formerly known as Genneve. The Florida-based practice management and services company will add Gennev to its portfolio of women's health-focused businesses.