Startups are witnessing a new trend that many believe is unstoppable. Why is there such a low number of women in senior positions? For example, women going through menopause tend to leave leadership positions. Research shows that menopause in the UK is responsible for approximately 14 million lost work days and 1,000,000 premature career exits. Peppy, a startup that focuses on employee health, is just reporting.Now, ViraHealth has received a 1.5M seed financing from LocalGlobe as well as MMC Ventures. Angel investors included Megumi (Hearst Ventures), Andrea Zitna, Sofia Bendz and Matt Robinson. Simon Lambert was also part of the round.Vira Health was founded in 2020 by Rebecca Love and Andrea Berchowitz. Stella, the first product of Vira Health, is an app that provides menopause relief. It features content and 12-week treatment plans.Andrea Berchowitz is co-founder of ViraHealth. She stated that female health has historically been under-researched or under-invested. This continues to be true today. Technology can help to correct this imbalance by improving the collection of and use female data in healthcare. The first round of seed financing is an important step in realizing our vision.Remus Brett, Investment Partner at LocalGlobe stated that menopause is a significant phase in a woman's life. The current healthcare system fails to provide long-term and multi-faceted support for women.Alexia Arts, MMC Ventures Investor, stated: Healthcare is a major area of investment and research at MMC Ventures. We see huge potential in harnessing data insights and transforming the delivery and practice of healthcare. This is especially relevant for female healthcare, where there is a well-documented gap in gender data that must be closed.Before launching Vira, Berchowitz was an Associate Partners at McKinsey & Company. She worked in women's health across all sectors and managed the Middle East operations of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
