Eight-year-old Maven follows women and families through fertility and pregnancy to birth, pediatrics and menopause. Through its app, patients are connected to specialists who can talk them through a variety of medical procedures and long-term care plans for nutrition and child care. The company operates in 175 countries and offers care for families with different backgrounds and needs.

“We have reimagined the care model to address the complex needs of women and families in a global system that was not designed for them,” said , Maven CEO and founder.

New York City-based Maven works with employers to provide supplemental benefits, but doesn’t accept insurance — although its website indicates per-appointment fees cost less than most copays.

Specialized care gains traction

Maven’s raise, so far, marks the largest raise in the femtech category this year. Funding has dropped 52% since last year, garnering only $683 million in 2022. 

But that’s not bad. Before 2020 and 2021, when a flood of funding ensconced the private markets, femtech netted $569 million in 2019. 

Maven is one of several virtual health startups operating in the niche care space, where companies are building care plans for people who have otherwise been shunned by the mainstream health care system: women, people of color, queer people and immigrants. In October we covered ’s $30 million raise to further its care offerings to LGBTQIA+ patients such as gender-affirming health care, access to PrEP (medication that stymies the spread of HIV and AIDS), and fertility services for same-sex couples. , which raised $10.5 million in January, offers health care services for college-aged women such as sexual health education. 

But FOLX, Maven and Caraway, like many startups in this space, don’t take insurance. Rather, they either accept out-of-pocket payments or work with companies or schools to offer benefits to workers. Operating outside the insurance network might make it easier for patients to access specialists that are in demand and otherwise hard to schedule an appointment with. But the system also shuts out another group typically evaded by health care: the poor. 

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But while IVF is an option, it’s costly. The price of IVF can reach six-digits if multiple rounds of the treatment are required. Those upfront costs make IVF an inaccessible option for many hopeful parents.

, a startup which aims to make fertility care more affordable and holistic has announced that it has secured a $100 million credit facility from to finance its customers’ fertility subscription packages.

The company previously raised $10 million in equity financing just two months ago, launching its subscription service at the same time. In total, Future Family has raised $14.2 million in equity funding for its platform.

With the company’s IVF subscription service, customers can avoid the upfront costs of the procedure with medical financing and add benefits like telehealth and massage therapy to their packages. Customers will be able to apply for financing and receive a decision in one day and can rely on family or friends to co-sign.

“We have had historically more demand than we were able to service, and it has led to some delays, including people having to be on waiting lists for three to four months,” Future Family CEO and Founder told Crunchbase News. “With this new dedicated fund, we can now remove those delays and remove any waiting periods for service.”

Future Family isn’t the only company aiming to profit in the fertility space. Back in September we spoke with startups and who are leveraging health data to help people get pregnant.

Many other startups that have raised as well. Take a look:

For now, the community of startups focusing specifically on fertility is pretty small. However, more people than ever before are waiting to have children, so discussions about fertility procedures are increasingly common. As the technology for IVF improves and the rising adult generation seeks better ways to plan, those conversations and investor interest will likely continue.

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