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Starting a Women Health Startup for College Students like Caraway (Raised $10.5M): Market, Tech & Tips for Becoming Unicorn

Quick summary: Women’s health is one of WHO’s highest priorities!

College women struggle a lot with their health care needs. And a hard to access healthcare system is one of the major roadblocks for them.

But, women’s digital health startups are opening new doors for college students to get the ideal care they need with ease.

Here is the latest example!

Caraway nabbed $10.5M as a women health startup for college students!

Inspiration...

OMERS Ventures and 7Wire Ventures are familiar with how college women confront time-consuming, costlier and inaccessible care solutions.

But, digital health tech solutions hold an enormous potential to address those concerns.

As today’s generation is spending more time on their smartphones and laptops, digital healthcare service is the most convenient and result-driven solution for them.

Plan…

Caraway is going to launch virtual care for college women using a mobile app by the end of this year.

It will include,

  • Integrated mental healthcare solutions
  • Reproductive health
  • Physical health

An expert team is ready to decode the crisis…

As a women’s health startup for college students, Caraway will offer comprehensive care solutions with a care team made up of psychiatrists, gynecologists, medical practitioners, mental health therapists, adolescent specialists, nurses and care coaches.

Using its application, college women will be able to connect with healthcare professionals over chat or video call. In addition to this, it will also allow them to get referrals for live-in person visits.

Last but not least, they can order the home test kit for UTIs and STIs hassle-free.

Women’s health is a big concern!

Women confront a vast number of healthcare challenges. In fact, women have a higher risk of developing certain diseases than men.

It is important to focus on women’s health as they are the backbone of the families.

But, due to the broken leg of the healthcare system, it’s complex for women to access quality care services.

In other words, the old-age ecosystem restricts healthcare professionals to provide ideal care solutions.

Here are the two major health concerns among women.

1. Poor mental health

“One in five women (19%) experience a Common Mental Disorder compared with one in eight (12%) men”.

Stress, depression, trauma, anxiety and addiction are the most common mental health concerns among women, especially college women.

Poor mental health impacts them in various forms. For instance, the inadequate mental health of college women results in – poor academic performance, decreased socialization, dropping out of college or sometimes suicide.

2. Physical and reproductive health

Here are the most common physical concerns of college women.

  • Diabetes
  • Heart Disease
  • Infertility
  • Menopause
  • Migraines
  • Obesity
  • STDs & STIs

It’s not easy to maintain sufficient well-being while suffering from the above physical and reproductive health concerns, especially chronic conditions. Getting high-standard care services during the early stages is essential for women in order to live a full lifespan.

The problem is real. But no one has dared to do something about it

Women health problems

Women's health concerns are on the rise as,

  • Healthcare professionals are helpless as they are busy in their TEDIOUS clinical workflows.
  • The cost is rising for medical treatment.
  • The staffing shortage is the new pandemic!

Means, it’s a big opportunity for women health startups

Digital healthcare solutions are taking place in women’s healthcare needs.

Let’s understand with a simple example of mHealth apps.

  • Over 50% of pregnant women use mHealth apps
  • It helps in identifying the potential risk during pregnancy.
  • It also assists in addiction recovery and overcoming various mental health illnesses.
  • Comprehensive help in menstrual health

The most interesting aspect here is – the healthcare industry is experiencing rising gender-specific needs. Means, women are more likely to choose digital healthcare platforms that only offer women-centric care solutions.

Women’s digital health startups: A lucrative market!

The global market is positively responding to women’s health startups.

As per the Globe News Wire, “The Global Women’s Digital Health Market size was estimated at USD 4,291.22 million in 2021 and expected to reach USD 8,618.65 million by 2027”.

And here is the U.S. market overview.

US women digital health market

Trending and robust tech solutions for women’s health startups

1. AI-based solutions:

AI is making a healthcare approach faster, more accurate and effective.

AI-backed health tech solutions are helping greatly in addressing various women’s health concerns.

For instance, AI-enabled mental health apps contain a large amount of clinical data. This helps healthcare professionals in finding the best possible way to cure women’s mental health illnesses without being in a live-in person visit.

2. IoT or wearable technology:

Its ultimate goal is to collect, analyze and share the vital body signs data of the patients.

Thus, it is one of the widely usable tech solutions for women’s health.

For instance,

  • Remote patient monitoring
  • Wearable fertility tracker
  • Physical therapy
  • Mental health therapy

3. Chatbots:

Chatbots have created a massive buzz in the healthcare industry in the past few years.

It holds the ability to help both patients and their care providers under the same roof.

For instance, mental health chatbots talk with patients regarding their well-being and provide personalized and convenient tips 24/7 based on real-world data.

Women health app

Explore the top women’s health startups for college students

1. Mantra health:

Mantra Health

It is the leading digital mental health solutions provider for university students.

Value it delivers:

  • Personalized care plan
  • 24/7 messaging and video conferencing
  • Progress report to encourage students
  • Tips on maintaining sufficient mental well-being
  • Personalized medication strategy

Funding:

Mantra Health has grabbed a total of $29.2M in funding over 4 rounds.

2. Alpha Medical:

Alpha Medical

It offers comprehensive care solutions for women’s health.

What makes Alpha Medical a true virtual care provider is that it treats over 100 medical conditions online.

Value it delivers:

  • Primary and urgent care
  • Mental and behavioural health
  • Online birth control and other reproductive health
  • Skincare solutions
  • Nutrition and weight loss

Funding:

Alpha Medical has raised a total of $35M in funding over 2 rounds.

3. Maven Clinic:

Mavel health

It delivers next-generation virtual care solutions for women and their families.

The ultimate goal of the Maven Clinic is to improve care outcomes and reduce the medical costs for women’s health solutions.

Value it delivers:

  • Dedicated care providers throughout the journey
  • On-demand appointments
  • Personalized care solutions
  • Medication reminders
  • Symptom tracking
  • Curated content

Funding:

It has scored a whopping $202.1M in funding over 6 rounds.

4 tips for becoming a unicorn women health startup

We have observed and also engaged in several women health startups as a healthcare IT company. And this is what the essence of every successful healthcare startup.

1. Dedicated healthcare professionals as per the care needs of customers

Just imagine the outcome when a dedicated healthcare professional helps women in their entire care journey.

This approach enriches care outcomes along with helping in retaining more customers to your women’s health startup.

2. Build an expert team around every customer

Let’s understand with a quick example.

Ideal prenatal care is essential to keep the mother and her baby healthy.

Developing a dedicated care team around the mother such as obstetricians, gynecologists, midwives and nurse practitioners helps women to get everything they need in one place.

3. Offer 24/7 virtual care solutions

There is no ideal time to get treatment, especially when women are suffering from chronic conditions or having a pregnancy period.

24/7 virtual care support ultimately gives them peace of mind and high ROI to your startups.

4. On-demand appointments and care solutions

A solution to offer a quality patient care experience in the true sense!

On-demand appointment booking lets women connect with the virtual care provider in real time.

This approach assists you in drawing the attention of more customers while at the same time improving patient satisfaction.

We turn ideas into action with our health tech, business and compliance expertise!

Based in Ontario, we are a healthcare-specific IT company.

Means, we only strive to scale up the business vision and care approaches for the healthcare industry.

Our achievements and team:

In the past 7+ years, we have successfully delivered multiple ingenious and robust health tech solutions for healthcare startups, organizations and enterprises.

We have a 50+ army of healthcare-focused IT professionals that includes – app developers, UI/UX designers, business analysts, compliance specialists, QA engineers, RPA and AI & ML specialists.

Our thought-process:

We believe in class. Not in mass.

We are here to transform healthcare. Not for survival or banknotes.

We focus on profitable outcomes. Not in a cell of hardships.

So, let’s have a great talk about how we can pour our healthcare IT magic into your business vision!