Virtual Maternity Care: Our Investment in Pomelo Care

You don’t have to look far to see that we have a maternal health crisis in the United States. One in ten newborns starts their life in the NICU, and the rate of maternal mortality in the U.S. is more than five-times higher than that of other developed nations. This is not for lack of spend — our research suggests that the US healthcare system spends $60B+ on maternity care annually, but more than 84% of pregnancy-related deaths could have been avoided with proper preventative care. Further, maternal health outcomes are stunningly inequitable as pregnant women in the Medicaid population are almost twice as likely to have pregnancy-related complications vs. pregnant women with commercial insurance. This disparity has only continued to grow over time.

Despite the growth of condition-specific, technology-enabled care platforms over the past 5-10 years, maternity care has largely been overlooked. While payors acknowledge that improving maternal health care is a top priority, most existing solutions haven't been able to deliver an engaging, well-designed product that can truly address this problem.

Pomelo Care’s Solution:

Pomelo offers personalized, comprehensive maternal & infant care built on a modern technology platform. This includes a care team of dietitians, nurses, midwives, primary care physicians, therapists, lactation specialists, and more to address underlying factors that lead to pregnancy complications. Patients interact with Pomelo virtually through a combination of their personalized app that tracks key healthcare indicators and remote texts/chats with their care team.

There are four main drivers that lead to average spend per pregnancy being higher in the US compared to other developed nations — preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, prenatal hypertension, and cesarean deliveries — all of which are preventable. Pomelo's solution is designed to specifically address these four drivers using research-backed practices that improve outcomes and decrease costs by tracking key data and driving interventions before complications arise. Their results suggest that Pomelo has the potential to significantly improve care access and quality of care. Because of this, Pomelo has seen strong traction with large, national health plans.

Patients love Pomelo Care – the product is amazing. They receive 24/7 access to a helpful and supportive care team to answer their questions and address their concerns, all at zero cost to them. This continuous support is crucial during a highly stressful and worrying time, especially considering only 64% of women on Medicaid, a population Pomelo Care serves today, receive adequate care during their pregnancy. Pomelo Care has consistently driven best-in-class patient engagement, retention, and satisfaction.

With their current momentum, we believe Pomelo Care is well-positioned to expand their product to continue supporting better outcomes for mothers and babies before and after birth. By leveraging their existing technology and comprehensive care model, Pomelo Care is on a clear path toward continuing to build valuable partnerships to support patients throughout maternity and infant care. 

Stripes Participates in Pomelo Care’s $46M Series B

We're thrilled to partner with Pomelo Care as they work to improve maternity care in the U.S.

Our investment in Pomelo Care aligns with our broader focus on tech-enabled care delivery — directly improving quality and access to care, while decreasing ballooning healthcare costs. We anticipate payors will continue investing in digital health solutions and rewarding solutions that produce high-quality outcomes at scale through a combination of their care model and their ability to build an amazing experience that engages patients.

We've gotten to know Pomelo Founder & CEO Marta over nearly a decade through our investment in Flatiron Health, where we worked with her closely as a senior executive on the leadership team. We're impressed by the team's deep commitment to their mission, strong patient engagement, and exceptionally strong growth… some of the most rapid traction we have seen in the digital health market. Our partnerships with companies like Hello Heart, Boulder Care, and Flatiron Health have shown us the importance of building mission-driven companies that tackle significant problems in healthcare with highly innovative products paired with sustainable and scalable business models, and Pomelo Care exemplifies just that.

Pomelo Care has the potential to improve the lives of millions of Americans and greatly enhance access to essential care during and after pregnancy. We look forward to supporting the team every step of the way!

The information noted above is representative as of June 2024 and has not been updated since.