Virtual women’s health provider Maven Clinic announced Tuesday that it acquired London-based Naytal, also a virtual clinic for women, which will grow Maven’s reach in the U.K.
New York City-based Maven Clinic serves employers and health plans and offers virtual care for fertility and family planning, including maternity, parenting, pediatrics and menopause services. Naytal similarly provides online support for family planning, menopause, fertility and pregnancy. Its network provides access to more than 25 specialties, and it was the first platform in the U.K. to provide on-demand access to perinatal psychologists, according to a news release. The company primarily serves consumers, but recently shifted into the B2B space.
Market Trends to Watch for Health Systems and Their Specialty Pharmacies
The future looks bright for the integrated specialty pharmacy model – for health systems, providers, and most importantly, for patients.
“What really struck us was the similarities in the approach that they had taken to how Maven started out,” said Chris Hicks, senior vice president of employer growth at Maven Clinic, in an interview. “Naytal, similarly to Maven, their goal is to provide a combination of educational content, but also that real time access to providers.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Through the acquisition, Naytal founder and CEO Leila Thabet will become regional vice president of global growth and partnerships at Maven. In addition, Naytal’s over 50 providers will join Maven’s platform, more than doubling the company’s number of providers in the U.K., and Maven’s employer clients with a U.K. presence will have access to these providers. Outside of the U.S., the U.K. is Maven’s largest market, with more than 70 clients with employees in the area, including Microsoft and Bumble.
The deal should come as good news to Maven’s employer clients: Hicks said that a new Maven report — expected to be released next week — found that more than half of the global employers Maven surveyed ranked global parity in family health benefits as a top priority. Another 91% of the global companies said that family benefits are extremely important for current and prospective employees.
Health Executives on Digital Transformation in Healthcare
Hear executives from Quantum Health, Surescripts, EY, Clinical Architecture and Personify Health share their views on digital transformation in healthcare.
Not only will the acquisition grow Maven’s provider network and customers in the U.K., but it will also help sign on additional employer customers in the region, Hicks added.
“The key thing that this is going to unlock for us and accelerate is our commercial efforts to bring Maven to U.K.-based companies,” Hicks stated.
Most of the company’s growth in the U.K. has been from U.S.-based companies with employees in the U.K., Hicks said. But through the acquisition, Maven will be more active in taking on more U.K.-based companies.
By acquiring Naytal, Maven aims to improve access to women’s and family health in the U.K., Hicks said.
“One of the things that we’ve been really struck by as we grow outside of the U.S. is that a lot of the issues that we build out our products for — things like access to care, health equity, making sure that all individuals are able to receive high quality healthcare — they exist maybe in slightly different forms but certainly just as acutely in these other countries. … There’s a lot of white space for a solution like Maven to address these shortcomings in the local health network in the U.K and Europe and deliver on that same mission we have here in the U.S. around supporting women and families,” Hicks declared.
Credit: SB, Getty Images