Blog
by Vanessa LarcoApr 06, 2022
An estimated 50-60 million women in the United States are currently experiencing menopause with more than 2 million additional women joining this group every year. Still, despite the global size of the female population and the inevitability of the menopause process, menopause is an area that has remained severely underserved in terms of research, resources, and patient-centric care. Evernow is out to change this. Powered by science-based and tech-enabled solutions, Evernow’s mission is to help women live longer, healthier lives—we think it’s about time and are beyond thrilled to support the company along this journey.
We began digging into the women-focused health tech space several years ago. We met numerous startups that were solving many challenges across the women’s health spectrum: from menstruation to fertility to post-partum and everything in between. Something glaring emerged from all of our research and conversations—there was a large hole with regards to solutions for the menopause and perimenopause markets. We dove deeper and learned that very little education and institutional research has been focused on menopause, resulting in a lack of specialists across the country. Even physicians specializing in obstetrics and gynecology (OBGYNs) don’toften have proper training to treat menopause. A survey of U.S. OBGYN residents finds that fewer than 20% receives formal training in menopause medicine.[i] This leaves women faced with a process that spans 10-20 years of their life, produces symptoms for 85% of patients, and yet has very few viable options for treatment and management. The opportunity to change the menopause narrative for women was something too large and too important to ignore.
When we met Alicia Jackson and Evernow, we were drawn to how extremely thoughtful they are, displaying a passionate empathy for the millions of women who don’t received the quality menopause care they seek out. We also believe they have the right solution to a key piece of this puzzle. The Evernow solution is a smart combination of technology-powered treatments, backed by science and expert human care. With Evernow, women could access custom care plans encompassing hormonal therapies, cost-effective virtual care delivery, and access to empathetic experts via a beautifully designed telehealth user-interface. This care delivery approach allows for easy adjusting to accommodate the constantly changing symptoms of menopause.
Beyond Evernow’s compelling platform and customer resonance, the caliber of the team really won us over. In addition to Alicia Jackson, PhD, CEO; who has deep health tech and biotech expertise, Evernow’s senior leadership team includes a fierce collection of PhDs and MDs with direct OBGYN, women’s health, and certified menopause practitioner experience, including: Emily Hu, MD, NCMP, Medical Director; Leah Millheiser, MD, NCM, Chief Medical Officer, and Jennifer Garrison, PhD, Chief Scientific Advisor.
Evernow’s offering is unique because in addition to combining science and technology for a modern and research-based approach to managing menopause, it also focuses on arming patients with knowledge and early-support through a library of resources and guides aimed at educating not-only women currently experiencing menopause, but also the millions of perimenopausal women who are transitioning into the menopause phase. Perimenopause has traditionally received even less attention than menopause, yet data shows that women who recognize and treat symptoms early on have a better prognosis for long-term symptom management.
It’s unbelievable how long women have sought effective treatment for menopause and have been met with ineffective regimens, dissatisfying responses, and most dissapointingly–up to 75% of these women recieve no answers at all. Women deserve better, this is why we are especially grateful to have the opportunity to lead Evernow’s Series A financing and partner with the team on this vital mission to (finally) prioritize women’s health and be part of the solution.
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Menopause Management Knowledge in Postgraduate Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Obstetrics and Gynecology Residents: A Cross-Sectional SurveyWhat Do Ob/Gyns In Training Learn About Menopause? Not Nearly Enough, New Study SuggestsThe information provided in this blog post is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to be investment advice, or recommendation, or as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any fund or investment vehicle managed by NEA or any other NEA entity. New Enterprise Associates (NEA) is a registered investment adviser with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, nothing in this post should be interpreted to suggest that the SEC has endorsed or approved the contents of this post. NEA has no obligation to update, modify, or amend the contents of this post nor to notify readers in the event that any information, opinion, forecast or estimate changes or subsequently becomes inaccurate or outdated. In addition, certain information contained herein has been obtained from third-party sources and has not been independently verified by NEA. The companies featured in this post are for illustrative purposes only, have been selected in order to provide an example of the types of investments made by NEA that fit the theme of this post and are not representative of all NEA portfolio companies. The company founders or executives or any other individuals featured or quoted in this post are not compensated, directly or indirectly, by NEA but may be founders or executives of portfolio companies NEA has invested in through funds managed by NEA and its affiliates. Any statements made by founders, investors, portfolio companies, or others in the post or on other third-party websites referencing this post are their own, and are not intended to be an endorsement of the investment advisory services offered by NEA.
