Maternal health company Zaya has raised $7.6M in seed funding led by Inspired Capital. Other investors include Story Ventures, Tiger Global, Operator Partners, and founders and executives from Cityblock Health, Oscar Health, Dispatch Health, and Headway.
Zaya works with practitioners, health plans, and patients to make whole-person maternal care accessible. Building upon the foundation of OB/GYN care and hospital services, the company unlocks access to insurance-covered pregnancy and postpartum practitioners. Their network ranges from lactation consultants to pelvic floor therapists, postpartum mental health experts to acupuncturists. By partnering with health plans and removing the administrative burden for practitioners, Zaya enables an industry-wide shift from cash-only to insurance-covered.
The need for improvements to maternal care in the United States is acute. The United States has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, with the rate more than doubling from 1987 to 2019. It is also one of the most expensive places to have a baby, with insured mothers paying nearly $5,000 for delivery—before they even consider paying for pre- and post-natal care.
“Growing up in the European healthcare system, where my sister is an OB/GYN, I admired the multilayered approach to maternal care. The doctor and hospital experience is complemented by experts in everything from lactation to nutrition. Plus, many of these practitioners offer in-home visits that remove the logistical barriers of traveling with bump or baby,” says Zaya Founder and CEO Leoni Runge. “I started Zaya to establish a new standard of comprehensive maternity care in the United States. We’re the connective layer between parents, who deserve access to quality care, and practitioners, who have so much to offer from preconception to postpartum.”
“In the U.S., receiving care outside of OB-GYN services is an exception, not an expectation—as it is in the rest of the developed world. There is tremendous untapped potential among the 300,000 non-medical maternal care providers across the country whose costs are typically out of reach,” adds Lucy Deland, Partner at Inspired Capital. “Not only is Zaya helping parents find providers they can afford to visit, but the company is also enabling providers to accept insurance and serve a more diverse client base.”
Currently available in New York, this funding will accelerate Zaya’s expansion into new states, fuel the growth of the company’s maternity care specialists network, and will extend Zaya’s tech platform.
