Women's Health Startup Midi Health has raised new rounds of venture funding, Business Insider learned.
MIDI, which provides virtual care for the health of menopause, menopause, and other middle-aged women, has raised $50 million in the Series C round, led by Advance Venture Partners. The round, which closed in the spring, brings total funding to around $150 million.
Co-founder and CEO Joanna Strober confirmed her pay raise in an interview with BI. MIDI has a return rate of $150 million, up from around $60 million at the end of 2024, Strober said. Continuing the current pace of performance, the company predicts how much revenue it will generate next year.
Since its founding in 2021, MIDI has raised more money than any other startup with menopause at its core. That rise reflects the slow and steady changes in how the healthcare market treats middle-aged women. Employers add menopause care to their interests, venture dollars are flowing, celebrities are speaking out, once taboo topics are in the mainstream.
MIDI offers personalized care including hormonal and non-hormonal medications, blood and genetic testing, lifestyle coaching, and supplements. The startup currently serves around 20,000 women each week, Strauber said in January it nearly doubled its patient base.
As Midi expands, he has made some hot topic bets. The startup launched a new longevity program earlier this year. And Midi is now building its own AI search engine that is like ChatGpt for women's health, Strober told BI.
Strauber said he discovered that other AI-powered medical search tools can be outdated and that women's health information can be inaccurate. She has previously criticised companies like open evidence. This includes a LinkedIn post cited by Doximity in a recent lawsuit against OpenIcence.
“They don't necessarily prioritize appropriate research or the latest research,” Strauber said of the current medical search tools. “We want to be able to go somewhere to find the right answer. It's much more vetted and curated than any other database.”
The $50 million Series C is Advance Venture Partners' first investment in MIDI. Previous supporters of MIDI include Emerson Collective, GV, and Angel Investors, including 23andme co-founder Anne Wojcicki.
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The company refused to share the current rating. BI previously reported that MIDI raised a $60 million Series B in April 2024 at a valuation of between $300 million and $310 million.
Menopause is the mainstream
Menopause education is at the heart of MIDI's business, Strober said, and it's no longer a niche player that celebrities, regulators and venture companies all load up.
Actress Halle Berry founded a menopause education company earlier this year. Midi's own cap table includes celebrities such as Amy Schumer and Tory Burch. Regulators are also paying attention. In July, the Food and Drug Administration held a panel of experts on menopause hormone therapy. There, doctors urged them to ease warning labels on low-dose estrogen treatments that they argued could discourage women from seeking the care they needed.
The momentum is to attract investors' dollars. Women's health startups still earn a small percentage of all healthcare venture dollars, but last year it rose 55% to $2.6 billion.
Midi has been living a long life this year. In May, the startup launched a preventive care program called Agewell. This focused on preventing conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, while promoting brain and bone health. Midi says it is the first lifespan provided tailored to women.
Longevity has become one of HealthTech's most hanging corners, attracting billions of dollars from high-tech executives and venture companies. Biotech Startup Retro Biosciences, which won $180 million from Openai CEO Sam Altman in 2023, said it plans to begin clinical trials of the pill to reverse Alzheimer's disease in September. Consumer Health Startup Function Health has attracted hundreds of thousands of members to its blood testing platform, as well as celebrities investors like Matt Damon and Zac Efron.
Much of the longevity market distorts men who are often dominated by famous “biohakers” like Brian Johnson. Strober said Midi is intentionally taking a more grounded, women-focused approach.
“We are not a high-tech type of longevity care. We focus on relevant, tailored, proven solutions,” she said. “We're not trying to optimize for you every day. It's a much more practical approach to longevity.”
Like the rest of Midi's Virtual Care, Agewell's visits are covered by major commercial insurers such as Unitedhealthcare, Cigna and Aetna. MIDI does not work with Medicare or Medicaid plans.
Pressure Points
Midi faces a growing pack of rivals as they expand their reach.
The startup from women's health company Maven Clinic is considered an IPO candidate for the next wave of digital health pabrics at $1.7 billion, and is promoting its own menopause care delivery to early stage player Elektra Health. One Amazon Healthcare deployed menopause care throughout primary care clinics in September. And now, as MIDI offers longevity care, it overlaps with preventive health companies such as functional health.
Strober said MIDI is spending new cash on technologies like AI search tools and employment and training providers. Most OB-Gyns are not formally trained in perimenopausal and menopause care. Strober said MIDI has built an intensive training protocol that includes both women's health and primary care.
MIDI is now operating without a Chief Financial Officer after former CFO Brandon Poe left the company this summer, BI learned. Strober declined to comment on Poe's departure.
The company has hired several C-Suite executives this year, including new COO Amy Gershkoff Bolles, who joined the company in June. Sharon Meers of Midi Cofounder, who has been MIDI's COO since 2021, is now president of a startup. Strauber said Boles has a lot of financial experience as a former executive at companies such as Levi Strauss and Tradesey, and has many CFO responsibilities while Midi seeks permanent replacements.
Strober says startups have a clear path to profitability, but Midi hasn't made any profit yet. She's not sure if or when Midi will be published, but she's not interested in handing over the business to the best bidders.
“I'm worried that if we sell the company, the acquirer might not care as much as I do,” she said. “We are optimistic about building a profitable company that doesn't need to be acquired by anyone.”
