Startups

Startup genneve debuts menopause telehealth platform

The Seattle-based company's platform is initially available in four states: California, Georgia, New Jersey and Washington.

Women's Health word on notebook,stethoscope and green plant

Seattle-based startup genneve, which operates in the women’s health space, has launched its telehealth platform geared towards providing menopause counsel to women. The announcement was revealed during the StartUp Health Festival in San Francisco.

The platform is initially available in four states: California, Georgia, New Jersey and Washington. Genneve plans to scale it to more states in the future.

The startup relies on a direct-to-consumer business model. Payment is out-of-pocket, and patients can book an appointment through genneve.com. It costs $45 to connect to a nurse practitioner and $65 to connect to a physician.

In a phone interview last month, genneve CEO Jill Angelo added a bit of context on how the capability works. For instance, she noted that after the online visit, the patient will receive a post-appointment summary.

From the practitioner side, the provider inputs their schedule and appointment requests come into their queue. Angelo said genneve is testing out evening and weekend appointment times. She also pointed out that many of the practitioners available via the platform are looking at this as a flexible opportunity to supplement what they currently do. “They’re winding down their career or they’re looking for more flexibility to work from home because they’re raising a family,” she said.

The Seattle startup’s roots date back to when Angelo was a Microsoft executive on sabbatical. She met Jacqueline Brandywine, a former Neutrogena executive who had a business in moisturizers, lubricants and cleansers for women going through hormonal changes. They eventually came to see that they could help women in menopause, and genneve was created.

The company started publishing content about women’s health in midlife. To fund the business, genneve was selling feminine care products. “The further we got into it, the more we realized the lack of access to current healthcare providers that work with women in menopause is a huge gap we think we can fill,” Angelo said. The team saw virtual care as an opportunity to close the gap, and the telehealth platform came to be.

In addition to the content, hygiene products and online clinic, genneve also offers a menopause assessment (which gives women a view into where they are in their menopause journey); physician-vetted podcasts and videos focused on menopause; and access to a community of practitioners and other females.

The startup’s target market, Angelo said, is Gen X women. Ultimately, genneve hopes to start altering patients’ behaviors earlier rather than later. Angelo said numerous chronic diseases set in during menopause, so the goal is to initiate and drive healthier behaviors during that period of life.

“We typically look at menopause as the end of a chapter of life. This is a beginning,” Angelo said. “Our goal is to grow old with our patients.”

Photo: asnidamarwani, Getty Images

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