Maternal morbidity and mortality rates are higher in the U.S. than other peer countries, and women of color are two to three times more likely than white women to die from maternal health complications. In addition, one in ten babies in the U.S. are born preterm.
Pomelo Care, a virtual maternal health company, aims to move the needle on these stats. The company announced last week that it raised $46 million in Series B funding, which it will use to scale its business.
New York City-based Pomelo Care “fills in the gaps” between patients’ existing OBGYN visits, according to Marta Bralic Kerns, founder and CEO of the startup. The company creates a care plan for patients based on their goals and risk factors. They’re also given a care team that includes obstetric and pediatric care providers, nurses, dieticians and therapists. Patients can meet with their care team at any time via text, phone or video. Pomelo Care works with commercial and Medicaid health plans and serves 3 million covered lives across 46 states.
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The $46 million Series B funding round was led by existing investors First Round Capital and a16z and included participation from Stripes, Box Group, Operator Partners and SV Angel. In total, Pomelo Care has raised $79 million.
According to Dr. Vineeta Agarwala, general partner at a16z Bio + Health and Pomelo board member, “Pomelo is one among a small set of health tech companies that have earned true scale.”
“This scale is evident in our partnerships with major Medicaid and commercial plans covering over 3 million lives, which create the opportunity to collaborate with OB providers, labor and delivery wards, and NICUs nationwide, while serving hundreds of thousands of expecting mothers and newborns with high quality, technology-enabled care,” Agarwala said in a statement.
With the financing, Pomelo is focused on reaching more patients, Bralic Kerns said. The company is hiring across clinical, operating, data and engineering teams. This will enable Pomelo to “build on our vision to address the root causes of the maternal health crisis,” she said in an email.
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Pomelo Care has published data on its outcomes and recently presented its data at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Annual Clinical & Scientific Meeting. The research found that the company increased rates of evidence-based aspirin prophylaxis (which improves preeclampsia risk) by 2.4 times and mental health screening rates by 7 times.
Ultimately, the company aims to provide “no-cost access to quality maternal and infant care for patients across the country to reduce avoidable complications and improve outcomes,” Bralic Kerns said.
Other companies in the virtual maternal health space include Maven Clinic and Mae.
Photo: Pomelo Care