💸 Midi Health Raises $25M To Expand Access to High-Quality Care for Women at Midlife
FemWealth Issue #129
Hi FemWealth Friends,
In today’s edition: Joanna Strober’s Midi Health secures a $25M Series A for its virtual clinic; Inga Svinhufvud Laudiero’s NUMA raises $59M in Series C for its digital hospitality platform; Laura Deming launches age1, a VC firm specialised in longevity biotech; plus the latest and greatest in women-led startups, VC, and more.
In the Spotlight 💸
Founded and led by Joanna Strober, Midi Health, is a Los Altos, California-based virtual clinic that delivers insurance-covered care for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. It offers evidence-based interventions ranging from lifestyle coaching and supplements to prescription medications.
“It’s clear that menopausal symptoms can derail women’s lives. With far too few practitioners trained in managing menopause, women are underdiagnosed, undertreated, and underserved. Midi provides an insurance-covered solution that focuses on women’s unique needs, closing a major gap in health access, quality and equity.” - Joanna Strober, Midi Health CEO and founder
The company raised a $25 million Series A round led by GV, joined by previous investors Felicis, Semper Virens, Icon, 25M, and Operator Collective. With the new funding, Midi Health aims to expand access to high-quality care for women at midlife.
FemWealth Special Edition
World Contraception Day: Meet Elizabeth Ruzzo, Founder & CEO at adyn
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Startups: Avalyn Raises $175 Million in Oversubscribed Series C Financing to Advance Inhaled Pulmonary Fibrosis Programs into Later Stage Clinical Studies - Led by Lyn Baranowski, the US-based clinical-stage biotech startup develops targeted inhalation therapies for pulmonary diseases. It closed a $175 million Series C funding round, co-led by Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds, SR One, and Eventide Asset Management.
Digital Hospitality Platform, NUMA Group, Raises $59m in C-funding Round - Co-founded by Inga Svinhufvud Laudiero, NUMA claims to be Europe’s first fully digital hospitality brand, using proprietary technology to optimize hotel operating processes and creating the most user-friendly platform for guests. Verlinvest led the company’s $59 million Series C round, joined by Cape Capital, and existing investors including Headline, Cherry Ventures, DN Capital, and Soravia.
Traceless Materials raises €36.6M for eco-friendly plastic alternative - Co-founded by Anne Lamp (CEO) and Johanna Baare (COO), the Hamburg-based biomaterials startup raised €36.6 million in a Series A funding round to scale the production capabilities of its plastic alternative. Private equity firms United Bankers and Swen Capital Partners co-led the round, with participation from GLS Bank, Hamburg, and Hamburger Sparkasse, and existing investors, Planet A Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), and b.value.
Sam Altman backs Slope’s $30M round to digitize, scale B2B payments - Co-founded by Alice Deng, the US-based business-to-business payments platform for enterprise companies, secured $30 million in new funding to expand its business. Union Square Ventures led the round, with participation from Y Combinator, monashees, Sam Altman from OpenAI, Mathilde Collin from Front, and other angel investors.
Mexico trade financing startup Mundi raises $15M (Axios Pro $) - Co-founded by Paulina Aguilar Vela (CRO), the NYC-based platform enables companies to make efficient international payments. It raised $15 million in a Series A extension led by Haymaker Ventures, with participation from Union Square Ventures, GMO Ventures, Upper90, Colibri Ventures, Base10, Asymmetric Capital Partners, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, and GSBackers.
Evvy Raises $14M in Series A Funding to Grow and Evolve Its Vaginal Healthcare Platform - Co-founded Priyanka Jain (CEO), Laine Bruzek (Chief Marketing Officer), and Pita Navarro (Chief Science Officer), the New York startup helps women diagnose vaginal infections through an at-home microbiome test. It raised a $14 million Series A round led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from General Catalyst, Labcorp Venture Fund, RH Capital, Ingeborg Investments, G9 Ventures, Virtue, and Amboy Street Ventures.
“We envision a world where the female body isn’t a medical mystery — where early disease detection and personalized treatments in women’s health are the norm. We are so grateful for the hard work and support of our world-class team, investors, and partners. Together, we will continue leading the charge to close the gender health gap.” - Priyanka Jain, Co-Founder & CEO of Evvy (via FemTech Insider)
Collective Liquidity Extends Series A Financing to $12M - The NYC-based company, co-founded by Erika McKiernan, provides financial tools for employees, enabling them to reduce their risk from over-concentration in a single company by exchanging shares tax-free for an interest in the Collective Exchange Fund. It secured a $12 million Series A extension led by Aliya Capital Partners.
NorthStar Care Raises $6M in Seed Funding - Co-founded by Dr. Amanda Wilson (CEO), and Dr. Lisa Chiodo (Chief Science Officer), NorthStar Care, a US-based provider of a virtual substance use disorder treatment program, raised $6 million in Seed funding.
QED and Partech back South African payment orchestration platform Revio in $5.2M seed - Co-founded by chief operating officer Nicole Dunn, the Cape Town-based fintech aims to address the fragmentation in Africa’s payments landscape. QED led the company’s Seed round, joined by growth-stage pan-African VC Partech, and existing investors Speedinvest, Ralicap, and Everywhere VC.
Notify Therapeutics Secures €5M for the Development of a Non-Hormonal Fertility Treatment - Founded and led by Professor Karin Lykke-Hartmann, the Danish biotech raised €5 million to develop novel treatments for infertility.
Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six leads $4.7 million seed round in executive coaching platform used by NBA and Angel City players (Fortune $) - Co-founded by Anita Hossain Choudhry (CEO) and Rei Wang (CPO), the executive coaching platform the Grand raised a $4.7 million round. Seven Seven Six led the round.
Former Tinder CEO’s startup to fight loneliness with AI chatbot gets backing by Sequoia - Renate Nyborg (previously CEO at Tinder), launched Meeno, a startup on a mission to fight loneliness through an AI-powered chatbot. The company announced a $3.9 million Seed round led by Sequoia, and joined by AI Fund, NEA, and angel investors, including Megan Jones Bell (clinical director of Mental Health, Google), and Eileen Burbidge (Passion Capital).
Izix’s sustainable parking platform receives €3M boost - Co-founded by Aurelie Bekaert, Izix provides a parking space solution that enhances flexibility, reduces emissions, and supports ESG goals. Noia Capital, La Région Bruxelloise, and business angels participated in the round.
Partum Health Secures $3.1M in Seed Funding to Expand Access to Pregnancy and Postpartum Care Services in the United States - Co-founded and led by Meghan Doyle, the Chicago-based pregnancy and postpartum support startup, raised $3.1 million in Seed funding. True Wealth Ventures led the round, with participation from Magic Fund, The Fund Midwest, Tawani Ventures, Bridge Ventures, and Pioneer Healthcare Partners.
Finematter’s €2.6M funding injection bolsters circularity in the jewelry industry - Founded and led by Caroline Chalmer, the jewellery marketplace Finematter connects customers with over 150 independent jewellers. It announced the second close of its Seed round, bringing the total raised to €2.6 million. Heartcore Capital and angel investors participated in the financing round.
Morphoses secures €2.1M in Pre-Seed funding for soft skills development - Co-founded by Anna Natsvlishvili (CEO) and Ilia Tzortzopoulou (COO), the Athens, Greece-based startup provides a gamified learning experience for soft skills development in young people. Uni.Fund led the company’s oversubscribed Pre-Seed funding round.
Breezit locks $2M funding to develop ‘Gen AI for weddings’ - Co-founded by Aurelija Gintalienė (COO), Breezit’s platform is designed to streamline the wedding planning process. Practica Capital led the company’s Pre-Seed funding round.
StretchDollar Raises $1.6M in Pre-Seed Funding - Co-founded by Kaiza Molina (COO), the US-based startup enables small employers to provide pre-tax funding to employee-owned health insurance. It raised $1.6 million in Pre-Seed funding.
Novo receives a €1M boost to accelerate building decarbonisation - Co-founded by Mona Hornung and Julia Wadehn, the Berlin-based proptech startup, helps automate energy renovation planning and financing. Citizen Capital and 2bX co-led the company’s €1 million Pre-Seed funding round, alongside Antler, and angel investors.
SeaBeLife secures €1.2M to develop drug candidates intended to block cell necrosis - Co-founded and led by Morgane Rousselot, the French biotech raised €1.2 million in a Seed round extension for drug development for liver disease and eye disorders.
First Intimate Interview With The League Founder Amanda Bradford Since $30 Million Match Group Acquisition - Features Amanda Bradford, founder of The League, the only dating app entirely engineered and coded by a woman.
VC: Israel’s Cyberstarts closes $480m fund for cybersecurity investments - Co-led by GP Lior Simon, the Israeli VC firm that focuses on Seed deals in the cybersecurity space, raised a new $480 million opportunity fund.
Venture Capital Firm age1 Raises $35M to Advance Longevity Biotech - Co-founded by Laura Deming (founder of The Longevity Fund), age1, a San Francisco venture capital firm specialising in longevity biotech, launched this week with an initial closing of $35 million. The firm is on a mission to extend healthy lifespan. Its portfolio includes Loyal, Gordian Biotechnology, Fauna Bio, Spring Discovery, Arda Therapeutics, Rubedo Life Sciences, Conception, and Bexorg.
What does Venture Capital Have Against FemTech?
“Given the disproportionate number of men in venture capital, it’s often that female entrepreneurs in the femtech space find themselves pitching investors who haven’t experienced firsthand the problems the startup is looking to solve. When you have female health care investors, some can worry about getting pigeonholed if they back femtech.” - Hunter Walk, Partner at Homebrew VC
Women’s Health: ‘Feminist approach’ to cancer could save lives of 800,000 women a year - A new report published by Lancet shows that 800,000 women worldwide are dying every year because they are denied optimal care.
“Globally, women’s health is often focused on reproductive and maternal health, aligned with narrow anti-feminist definitions of women’s value and roles in society, while cancer remains wholly underrepresented.
“Our commission highlights that gender inequalities significantly impact women’s experiences with cancer. To address this, we need cancer to be seen as a priority issue in women’s health, and call for the immediate introduction of a feminist approach to cancer.” - Dr Ophira Ginsburg, a senior adviser for clinical research at the National Cancer Institute’s Centre for Global Health
What it will take to eliminate disparities in fertility care for Black women
“In the Black community, fertility treatment, in general, is [considered] something that quote-unquote ‘only white women partake in’ (…). Being a Black woman, myself, and being a Black fertility specialist, this is something I have seen and known throughout my entire career (…) you think you're the only one [and] there’s this thought process that Black women don’t suffer from infertility, even in our own community.” - Stephanie Thompson, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist (via Axios)
Fashion: Angelina Jolie Shakes Up Fashion with the Launch of Atelier Jolie
“I don’t want to be a big fashion designer. I want to build a house for other people to become that.” - Angelina Jolie (via Vogue)
Thank you for reading FemWealth! 🥰 If you enjoyed this issue, please share it with a friend.
Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth