The BFD: Pomelo juices $46M for maternal care

Virtual maternal care company Pomelo Care raised a $46 million Series B to improve maternal health rates with earlier interventions, CEO Marta Bralic Kerns tells Erin exclusively.

Why it's the BFD: The U.S. has the highest maternal death rate of any high-income country, with the rate for Black women the highest of any group by far.

Zoom in: Andreessen Horowitz and First Round Capital led the round, joined by Stripes and existing investors BoxGroup, Operator Partners and SV Angel.

• Funds will help Pomelo hire clinicians and tech staff.
• Kerns declined to say when she foresees Pomelo raising again, but said "the purpose of this round is to get us to profitability."

How it works: Based in New York City, Pomelo is a virtual medical practice that uses data to identify risk factors among its patient populations as early as possible.

• Pomelo delivers medical, social and behavioral health care services based on those risk factors, from pregnancy until the child is 1 year old.
• The company contracts directly with Medicaid and commercial insurers and, per Kerns, provides all of its services at no cost to patients.
• Pomelo employs all of its providers, who include primary care clinicians, obstetricians (OBs), certified nurse midwives, registered dietitians, licensed clinical social workers, lactation consultants, pediatricians and a neonatologist.

Between the lines: "It's really important to us that our care teams are full-time and that they are collaborating," Kerns says.

• For example, Pomelo might refer a pregnant patient in their second trimester who had yet to establish prenatal care to a local OB and in the meantime do prenatal tests such as STI labs.
• If a test came back positive, Pomelo could start treatment and, when ready, hand off the patient to the local OB, per Kerns.

Flashback: Kerns left a role as an SVP at buzzy oncology startup Flatiron Health (now part of Roche) in 2021 while pregnant with her second child to start Pomelo.

What they're saying: "What I found was so much of pregnancy care was back-weighted to when a complication happens," Kerns says.

• Once someone is diagnosed with a condition like gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, a cascade of interventions happens.

The big picture: A Commonwealth Fund report documented 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the U.S. in 2022 — far above rates for other high-income countries.

• Compared to other countries the report authors studied, women in the U.S. "are the least likely to have supports such as home visits and guaranteed paid leave."

Yes, but: Very little is done to identify who is at risk early either to prevent those problems from arising or to treat them before costly and riskier forms of care are needed, Kerns adds.

• "We know what interventions work" for various high-risk populations — such as low-dose aspirin to prevent or delay preeclampsia — but the traditional health care system is often stretched beyond its capacity to provide them, especially to those most in need, Kerns says.

🍊 Fun fact: The pomelo is a citrus fruit with a thicker rind than that of a grapefruit or orange. "That's how we think of ourselves: that protective layer around mom and baby," Kerns says.

State of play: Virtual maternal care companies are attracting venture dollars across the early- to late-stage spectrum, with several collecting pre-seed and seed rounds and at least one inking a Series E deal.

• Pregnancy care and tracking startup Aster in January nabbed $2.4 million in pre-seed funding.
• Postpartum mental health provider FamilyWell in February closed a $4.3 million seed.
• Hybrid maternal health startup Mahmee in 2022 raised a $9.2 million Series A.
• Virtual maternal and family health unicorn Maven Clinic in 2022 collected a $90 million Series E.