VC Poured Nearly $1 Billion Into Maternal Health Startups. Half Went to Three Companies.

Venture capitalists invested nearly $1 billion in 172 maternal health startups between 2014 and 2022 — and three companies captured roughly half of it, according to a new study from Penn's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics published in JAMA Health Forum on July 24, 2026.

The paper, one of the first systematic analyses of VC-backed startups in pregnancy care, was led by Madeline Perry, a Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellow in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine, with senior author Scott Lorch. Co-authors include Kristan Scott, Diana Montoya-Williams, Leah Blum, Sindhu Srinivas and David Grande.

The backdrop is stark. The United States leads the industrialized world in maternal mortality, and Black and brown birthing people face elevated risks of serious pregnancy complications or death. People with low incomes also experience worse outcomes.

The startups themselves cluster around virtual and hybrid "wraparound" care — the support that happens before and after a prenatal visit with an OB provider. Perry said that finding makes sense. "Many birthing people feel that the current prenatal care model does not meet their medical and psychosocial needs," she said.

The access gap

The study's most commercially significant findings concern who can actually use these services. Among firms whose services could likely be covered, fewer than half accepted insurance. Only 34% accepted Medicaid — the payer that covers roughly 40% of all U.S. births in the United States.

Fewer than one in five startups even mentioned health equity or maternal mortality on their websites. That omission matters, Perry argues, because adverse pregnancy outcomes are disproportionately concentrated in Black, brown and low-income populations and are driven by systemic and structural factors like racism.

"Improving perinatal outcomes in the country requires prioritization of populations who may have more limited access to comprehensive, high-quality pregnancy care," Perry said.

Where the money went

Biotechnology companies attracted the largest share of funding, largely through advances in prenatal diagnosis — including maternal blood tests that assess the risk of certain genetic differences in a pregnancy. Perry attributes the pattern to capital intensity: biochemical research and development demand far more resources than a software-as-a-service company, which explains why so many low-barrier virtual wraparound companies populate the space.

A few wraparound care companies did crack the top 20 by total funds raised, and some of those specifically prioritize Medicaid-insured populations.

No outcomes data yet

The study did not examine clinical results, and the authors are candid about the limitation. Startups may improve care, they write, but may not reach many of the people most affected by the crisis.

"The next step is to measure impact," said co-author Sindhu Srinivas, an LDI Senior Fellow. "Maternal health startups should be evaluated on whom they reach, whether their services are accessible to those at greatest risk, how well they integrate with existing care systems, and—most importantly—whether they improve maternal outcomes and reduce inequities."

Measuring that impact will not be easy. Outcomes tied to VC-backed startups are not readily available in public datasets such as claims data, Perry noted. The stakes are real because many of these companies advertise directly to consumers. If some can genuinely reduce maternal morbidity and preterm birth, Perry said, the goal should be expanding access to them.

Standards and the next frontier

On oversight, Perry points less at policymakers than at academic institutions. Health startups gain credibility, brand awareness and partnerships by affiliating with major academic institutions, she said, and bodies like the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine could help raise awareness — and establish standards. "How can we discern a startup that has the potential to improve perinatal outcomes from one that does not have much added value or even has a risk of harm?" she asked.

Perry's next research target is private equity, which is increasingly buying hospitals and clinics in maternal and women's health care. The impact on costs, quality of care and health outcomes remains unknown — a gap investors, providers and policymakers will be watching closely.