CARÁ Health has today announced the raise of €620,000 in a Seed funding round. The startup bridges the maternity support gap by providing mothers with a library of evidence-based information, curated product suggestions, targeted podcasts and masterclasses, and personalised support services encompassing prenatal care guidance, postpartum support, and expert advice on specific health concerns.
Recent findings published in the Lancet’s open-access clinical journal, eClinicalMedicine, indicate that more than 40 million women experience long-term health issues lasting months or even years after childbirth.
So prevalent is the problem that as a result of the findings of a separate study conducted in the UK, the Birth Trauma Inquiry, the women’s health minister, Maria Caulfield formally apologised to women, saying that “maternity services have not been where we want them to be.”
Without adequate resources, mothers face increased stress and gaps in their support networks. This can lead to a range of adverse outcomes for mothers and their babies.
CARÁ Health was founded by paediatric nurse CEO Anna Strubel alongside serial entrepreneurs Carina Vantsi and Keiro Vantsi in 2022.
According to CARÁ Health co-founder Carina Vantsi:
“As a mother myself, I know firsthand some of the situations women find themselves in during the maternity process. They’re very personal, and a lot of these stories don’t get out.
Still, a lot can be done during the preparation for the birth, and this is what we’re offering with our ‘whole woman’ approach during the pregnancy period. This can also prepare women for the postpartum period.”
Alongside a comprehensive app, CARÁ Health also features physical locations in Tallinn, Tartu, and Berlin, the most recently opened location. These locations offer women's health services ranging from gynaecology to nutritionist counselling, pregnancy yoga, midwife and doula services, and much more.
CARÁ Health now counts one in every two pregnant women in Estonia using its app and has supported over 1,000 pregnancies in Estonia to date.
In April of this year, the startup embarked on its first international expansion, opening a physical location in Berlin to an overwhelming response.
Within the first two weeks of its opening, 250 spots were sold in the CARÁ Berlin space, validating market demand and prompting CARÁ Health to accelerate its German market expansion plans.
Tera Ventures led the Seed round, which included Startup Istanbul founder Burak Büyükdemir via StartupIst Ventures. The round brings the startup’s total funds raised to date to €750,000.
“We were already impressed by CARÁ Health’s traction in its home market of Estonia, and as a relatively recent parent, I saw a huge opportunity in what they were building, and the feedback we had from their customers and users made the stars align and made the investment decision easy,” commented Tera Ventures’ Eamonn Carey.
The founding team is supported by a medical board that includes family physician Dr Anna Melan and gynaecologist Dr Liina Rajasalu, alongside an office staff of 10 and 30 on-hand maternity and women's health specialists.
The company’s Estonian spaces are staffed by a team of six with 25 maternity specialists on hand, while the Berlin location is staffed by a team of three supported by 10 specialists.
The investment will assist the company in further developing its product and technology offer and expanding and growing in the DACH region.
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