A new maternal health company called Oula has picked up $3.2 million in seed funding, propelling the launch of its multimodal care platform and brick-and-mortar services. 

This batch of seed funding was led by Collaborative Fund with participation from Female Founders Fund, 8VC, Metrodora, Kapor Capital, Rock Health, January Ventures, Great Oaks and private investors. 

WHAT IT DOES

Oula’s model includes a brick-and-mortar clinic in Brooklyn Heights, New York, as well as a virtual care service. Patients are able to access virtual coaching and monitoring from preconception to postpartum.

The service also includes an app that helps patients keep track of their maternal care plan, message with their care providers and keep track of appointments. 

The physical clinic is slated to open in early 2021, and an additional birth center is planned to open in New York late next year. According to the company’s webpage, it is able to accept all major insurance plans, including Medicaid. 

WHAT IT’S FOR 

The company said that the money would go towards furthering “its mission of creating a new standard of pregnancy care.” While the company didn’t give specifics of what that would look like in practice, in its release it did announce plans to launch in-person centers in the near future, and also launch the virtual program. 

THE LARGER TREND 

Combining in-person and virtual care is becoming a growing trend in the healthcare space. Kindbody also uses a hybrid approach to women’s healthcare. It differs from Oula in that it focuses on fertility testing, egg freezing, IVF and wellness care. The startup now has over $63 million in funding.

One of the best-known multimodal care companies is One Medical, which focused on primary care. The company went public at the beginning of this year and, despite coronavirus hurdles, is reporting both year-over-year revenue increase and membership increase.

ON THE RECORD 

"Women should be at the center of their health care, especially during pregnancy,” Chelsea Clinton, cofounder of VC firm Metrodora, said in a statement. “That experience should be collaborative and holistic, and Metrodora is proud to support Oula Health to create an approach that does just that for prenatal and post-partum care."