Melbourne-based Ovum has raised $4 million in seed funding led by Admiralty Capital Group, with participation from Antler, Giant Leap, Aviron Investments, Brisbane Angels, Think & Grow, and existing investor LaunchVic through the Alice Anderson Fund. The round values the company at $18 million and follows a $1.7 million pre-seed in early 2025.
Founded by Dr. Ariella Heffernan-Marks, Ovum is building an AI health journal that captures symptoms, lifestyle factors, biometrics, reproductive health stages, medications, appointments, and medical reports into a single longitudinal record. The platform generates health summaries and appointment-ready questions to help women advocate for themselves in clinical settings.
Since launching in August 2025, Ovum has grown 30% month-on-month with over 20,000 downloads, more than 60,000 health data insights captured, and over 113,000 AI health conversations from women aged 15 to 84, according to the company. Users track more than 20 conditions including ADHD, fibromyalgia, migraines, PCOS, endometriosis, and menopause.
“How good is a sleep score if you don’t understand the context of that woman’s life – from her medications, stressors, medical history?” said Heffernan-Marks. “We store more than just biometrics; we actually have the whole clinical context.”
The dataset itself is a core part of the investment thesis: 83% of users have opted in to share anonymized data for research purposes. Ovum has launched clinical trials with St George Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Women – described as the first in Australia to assess AI as a preventative health tool designed specifically for women. Partners include Medibank, Fernwood Fitness, Sweat, and Menopause Friendly Australia.
