Illustrated by Eniola Odetunde/Axios
As psychiatrists, sisters-in-law Shipra Radda and Shama Rathi understood the challenges of America’s mental health system.
- But after having children and experiencing postpartum depression, they realized they needed to get into technology to fill the biggest healthcare gap for women.
News promotion: LunaJoy — a St. Petersburg-based mental telehealth startup focused on the needs of girls and women during puberty, pregnancy, menopause and everything in between — raises $2.4 million seed round at the end of 2022 have finished, Ladha and Rathi told Axios.
- That’s a huge feat for a women-led venture, given that less than 2% of venture capital funding went to an all-female founding team, according to Pitchbook data as of the end of September.
Important reasons: According to the CDC, only about half of women with depression receive treatment, and cost and stigma are the most common barriers to treatment.
- LunaJoy estimates that its care services cost half as much as a typical mental health visit.
Usage: LunaJoy connects patients with medical staff who can virtually assess their needs, providing pathways to care from holistic therapy to psychiatric and mental health coaching. All bookings are made via website voice or video call.
- “When a woman is going through a unique life and reproductive transition, care is not one-size-fits-all,” Rati told Axios.
detail: The site is insured with Cigna, Etna, Humana and Magellan and is licensed in 17 states.
- It has been used by more than 1,000 customers so far.
State of play: The company has grown rapidly since its launch in 2021, raising $1.9 million less than a month after Laddha and Rathi joined the Y Combinator Tech Accelerator program that year.
- They also participated in the Tampa Bay Wave’s TechDiversity Accelerator program last summer.
What they say: Rada said investors are very polarized in their pitches when approaching VC firms.
- “People with a deep understanding of the problem could understand it within 20 minutes, [there were] Those who still don’t see women’s health as a niche and not a market opportunity,” she said.
Naseem Sayani Got it right away. Co-founder and managing director of Emmeline Ventures, she said she wished she had something like LunaJoy around herself and the women she knew growing up. rice field.
- Sayani said that she, Radha and Rati “come from a cultural dynamic that does not talk about mental health, does not speak loudly, does not ask for what it needs….so that it can bring its services to people.” To make… women in our cultural backgrounds are very powerful to us.”
