Exclusive: Women’s health unicorn Maven Clinic is raising over $100 million from PE firm StepStone

Maven’s telehealth platform connects users with a suite of maternal and women’s health experts.

Women’s health unicorn Maven Clinic is grabbing fresh capital in a new funding round, B-17 has learned.

The startup is raising over $100 million in the round, according to two people with knowledge of the deal. One of those people said Maven was targeting a $150 million raise.

Private equity firm StepStone Group is set to lead the round, per two sources with knowledge of the deal.

Maven is backed by some colossal names in venture capital, including General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Oak HC/FT. Since its 2014 launch, it’s raised $300 million to bring virtual care to women and families. One person said the latest fundraising efforts value Maven at $1.7 billion, a step up from its Series E valuation of $1.3 billion. The startup raised that round, a $90 million cash infusion, in November 2022.

The startup has gained traction by notching deals with employers and health plans to provide care across a range of conditions — from fertility to pregnancy to postpartum care and menopause.

StepStone isn’t an obvious investor for a startup like Maven, since the firm typically invests in venture and PE funds as a limited partner. Earlier this year, StepStone announced a $3.3 billion fund to invest in venture capital secondaries, which allows the PE firm to buy up another investor’s shares in a startup or VC fund.

The round isn’t closed yet, and the figures involved could be subject to change. Maven declined to comment for this story. StepStone didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Healthcare startups have faced a significant funding slowdown in the past two years — except in women’s health. Investments in women’s health startups grew 5% between 2022 and 2023, despite venture funding in healthcare overall tanking 27% in the same period, according to a Deloitte report.

Still, women’s health remains a small fraction of the industry at large. That same Deloitte analysis found women’s health startups bring in just 2% of all venture healthcare funding.

And despite the sector’s slow climb, some women’s health unicorns are in danger of slipping. After offering discounts to investors earlier this year to participate in its latest fundraising efforts, fertility startup Kindbody may now be set to raise additional funding at a $600 million pre-money valuation, Bloomberg reported in August. That’s a significant haircut from the $1.8 billion post-money valuation Kindbody got in March 2023.

Maven’s apparent up-round could be a good sign for the sector. While high-valuation women’s health startups are few and far between, Maven and Kindbody have been widely recognized as the two most likely candidates for a women’s health IPO.

Maven hasn’t been quite as vocal as Kindbody about its IPO ambitions. But some healthcare investors see Maven’s success and its hopeful exit down the line as a critical stepping stone in cementing women’s health for still-skeptical generalists.

Maven also has Big Tech’s backing. The startup landed a partnership in August 2023 to provide its family-building solution to Amazon employees in more than 50 countries.