Proactive for Her, A Women’s Healthtech Startup, Raises $5.5 Mn in Series-A Round Led by Vertex Ventures

Team of Proactive For Her

Proactive For Her, a digital clinic for women’s outpatient healthcare, has raised US $5.5 Million in Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures South East Asia and India with participation from existing investor Nexus Venture Partners. The funds will be used to expand digital product offerings, grow their online customer base, and launch their flagship clinic in Bengaluru.

Founded by Achitha Jacob in August 2020, Proactive For Her offers evidence-based primary and preventive healthcare services for women across life stages. An Alumnus of IIT-Bombay, Achitha dropped out of Harvard Business School to build a company solving for women’s healthcare needs with patient centricity at its core.

Achitha Jacob, CEO, and Founder, Proactive For Her, said, “The stigma attached to women’s menstrual, sexual and reproductive health issues, coupled with lack of access to non-judgemental support, have long prevented many women from addressing their healthcare needs. At Proactive For Her, we believe all women should have access to the best medical experts, who have a patient-centric, liberal and empathetic approach to women’s health issues. We have seen an overwhelming adoption so far across our offerings. We are thrilled to have Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and Nexus Venture Partners join us in our journey of empowering women to take charge of their health proactively. This investment further bolsters our mission and will help us accelerate towards our vision of making Proactive For Her the preferred partner for every woman when it comes to managing her well-being.”

Achitha Jacob CEO and Founder of Proactive For Her

Proactive For Her offers a full-stack healthcare experience with services ranging from teleconsultations and support programs to customised diagnostic panels. They have a strong in-house team of doctors, therapists, and nutritionists, with over 150 years of healthcare experience, who are committed to offering holistic care and cross-functional support to their patients. Their clinical team undergoes rigorous training by global experts to uphold the company’s vision of body-positive, queer affirmative, and trauma-informed care. Their diagnostic services include complimentary pre and post-test support along with Smart Reports to help simplify medical jargon. By March 2022, Proactive For Her will launch their flagship offline clinic in Indiranagar, Bengaluru as the next step in their journey towards providing full-stack clinical care to women.

Commenting on the investment, Kanika Mayar, Senior Executive Director, Vertex Ventures SEA, and India, said, “We believe Proactive For Her is poised to change the way women access healthcare in India. Women are susceptible to diverse and complex health issues starting from puberty and there is a large unmet need in many areas where patients lack information and which require a more liberal, personalised, and empathetic approach to diagnosis and treatment. Since its launch, Proactive For Her has demonstrated impressive growth. Achitha and her team are very mission-driven and have developed a full spectrum of solutions for multiple health issues with a strong emphasis on patient-centric care. We look forward to partnering with them and with Nexus Venture Partners in building the leading healthcare company for every woman in India.”

Anand Datta, Principal, Nexus Venture Partners, said, “At Nexus, we always acknowledged the gap which women in India faced due to lack of a trustworthy and non-judgemental clinical care infrastructure. Unfortunately, many serious conditions in women have been either trivialised as lifestyle issues or ignored due to social stigma or lack of education. In Proactive For Her and Achitha, we found a team that was passionate about the space as well as deeply strategic in their approach towards creating a business. We are very excited to partner to create an iconic healthcare brand out of India.”

Proactive For Her has engaged with over 5,000 women so far, through their teleconsultation services, webinars, and other patient education endeavours. Within the next year, the startup aims to service 100,000+ women through their various products, services, and community engagement initiatives.

About Proactive For Her

Proactive For Her is a digital clinic for women, offering judgement-free, personalised, and confidential healthcare solutions. They offer products and services for out-patient health concerns of Indian women, across their lifetime - from puberty to menopause and beyond. For more information, please visit: https://www.proactiveforher.com/

About Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India invests in high-growth start-ups seeking venture capital funding in Southeast Asia and India. It has a long and strong track record of investing in early-stage startups and building champions. For more information, please visit: https://www.vertexventures.sg/

About Nexus Venture Partners

Nexus Venture Partners is a leading early-stage venture capital firm partnering with extraordinary entrepreneurs building product-first companies. With $1.5 billion under management, Nexus operates as one team across the US and India. For more information, please visit: visit www.nexusvp.com.

We Founder Circle, the Startup Investment Platform, Leads $75K seed round in Avni - Menstrual Care Startup

We Founder Circle, the startup investment platform, leads USD 75K seed round in Avni- menstrual care startup

New Delhi, 21st April, 2021- We Founder Circle (WFC) – a startup investment platform, in continuation of its mission to seed fund early-stage startups, has invested in Avni, a startup focussed on conscious and holistic menstrual care. The brand offers a wide range of menstrual care products including - Avni reusable cloth pads, Avni organic cotton pads and Avni menstrual cups.

Due to lack of organic and natural products, a lot of women are left with no choice but to use chemical based sanitary products that cause skin challenges. To address the same, Avni started working on alternatives and introduced tested, innovative products, made with carefully selected ingredients. The startup further identified that there is a lack of awareness among women users towards reusable menstrual products and to help them with the queries it also launched a 24X7 support period helpline.

The seed round worth USD 75K witnessed participation from key investors including Amit Tyagi, entrepreneur turned investor, Srikanth Iyengar, a senior executive in the technology services industry and an investor in edtech, healthcare and consumer startups.

Avni plans to utilize funds in product development and expanding the product line. It also plans to exhaust a part of the fundraise in creating more awareness through various on-ground initiatives.

"Currently, what we see in the market is a lot of chemical based products that cause serious vaginal diseases and skin problems. This turns out to be a bigger challenge for women with sensitive skin. We are trying to provide natural and reusable solutions so that women do not have to compromise by using plastic and chemical based products. We started with antimicrobial reusable and organic cotton sanitary pads as 80 % of the market share of feminine products is dominated by the pads. Gradually, we moved on to launch more products in the menstrual care category. Until now we have already served over 5000 women," said Ms. Sujata Pawar- Co-Founder- Avni.

Commenting on the fundraise Sujata added, "We strategically raised a small amount in this round. Keeping our growth plans in mind we aim at a bigger round by August 2021."

"The market of feminine hygiene products is expected to grow to INR 58.62 billion by 2024. And with innovative startups like Avni coming into the play, there will be a niche of customers for natural options. The space is less penetrated and not so competitive yet. This highlights the abundant scope it holds," said Mr. Neeraj Tyagi- Co-Founder and CEO, We Founder Circle.

The products by the brand are available on various ecommerce platforms- Amazon, Flipkart, 1 mg, Qtrove, Shycart, Upciclo, ThePinkBox and 27 retail stores in India including Vayas Sakhi.


About WFC

Established in 2020 in Mumbai, We Founder Circle is a global community of successful founders & strategic angels that have come together to push the startup industry and steer it towards aggressive growth. It invests USD 50K- USD 150 K amount in early -stage startups that are fueled with ambition, sustainability and strategic approach. WFC provides seed funding, business development and global networking opportunities to startups as it believes early-stage startups need a lot beyond just financial support to become scalable and stable.

About Avni

Avni founded in August 2020 in Thane, Maharashtra is a young start-up focused on holistic menstrual care. Founded by the husband-wife duo -Sujata Pawar and Apurv Agrawal, MyAvni conscious menstrual care products for women. The brand offers well researched,innovative, tested products to facilitate women hygiene during periods. The co-founders envision Avni to emerge as a reliable women's health brand with the support of medical experts, 24X7 helpline, and conscious products right from menarche to menopause.