When she founded She Matters, Jade was looking to train psychologists to be culturally sensitive to the needs of black women who suffer from post-partum depression.
She expanded on the idea of partnering with healthcare systems after taking the company to TechStars. The startup received a pre-seed investment today. She wants to expand the platform to include other groups of women who have had similar experiences.
The original focus of the app was to connect Black women with culturally sensitive therapists, but she realized there was more to it than that.
Training healthcare networks and independent healthcare practitioners is what we now focus on. We are focused on the comorbidities after the baby is born. Preeclampsia and hemorrhaging are two of the biggest post-partum comorbidities that black women experience.
She says the new approach has enabled the company to move beyond just training individual therapists to healthcare networks where they sign up the entire network for cultural competency training. She said that they don't charge Black mothers for therapy when they work with a hospital.
The hospital buys a subscription to the app and gives patients access to it as part of their care package It is possible for mothers to sign up with participating healthcare providers for free.
The company has six employees and is looking to add 15 by the end of the year.
The app is going to be expanded further. We want to use the same approach for other people that we have used for Black women, where we make them feel comfortable and give them the tools to advocate for themselves.
She said that the company has hired researchers and cultural experts to make sure that they give the same amount of care and authenticity as possible. Products for Latina women, LGBTQ people and Native American women will be coming soon.
Trying to raise money as a Black woman building a company aimed at Black women and other underrepresented groups has been challenging for her, a process that she said left her emotionally drained and exhausted. Many people don't believe you. This is not limited to white investors. Black female entrepreneurs are marginalized because they want to be part of the status quo. I don't have a black VC on my table. She doesn't have a black venture capitalist investor.
She has found a lot of people who believe in her and push her. Maelle Gavet, the CEO of the company, was a real mentor to her, helping her navigate the difficult path to this funding round. Alexander Packard, president of Iora Health, and Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, are two people who helped her get to this point.
There was a pre-seed investment of 1.5 million dollars from five companies.
Founder of She Matters developed an app for Black women with postpartum depression
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