Fertility and menopause app Peppy closes $10m Series A

Menopause, which is a natural part of aging in women and comes with a range of unpleasant and often debilitating symptoms, is forcing women out of the workforce in droves.

Therefore, it is in an employer’s interest to both support employees going through menopause, as well as break the taboo around discussing its impact on women in the workplace.

There are a few employers who are ahead of the times and have started to ensure that their workplaces have policies and guidelines that are supportive of women going through the menopause.

Many of them – including Aviva, Santander, BNP Paribas, and Clifford Chance – are relying on digital healthcare app Peppy to help them with their workplace menopause support.

Founded in London in 2018, Peppy is a digital health platform that connects up those suffering with menopause symptoms with specialists for phone consultations or online live chat. It also provides access to evidence-based articles and videos, group chats to allow those going similar challenges to support one another and live events.

However, it also provides similar support to those going through fertility challenges and grappling with being a new parent, therefore plugging the biggest gaps in the healthcare.

According to TechCrunch, Peppy styles itself as like “Babylon Health before you need Babylon Health”.

Peppy has announced today it has raised $10 million in a Series A round led by Felix Capital. Existing investors, including Outward VC, Seedcamp and Hambro Perks, also participated.

Mridula Pore, co-founder of Peppy, said: “The pandemic has shown us that employers can’t just talk about supporting their employees’ health and wellbeing anymore, they have to take action.

“More and more leading businesses are turning to us to provide the support their people really need – not a one-size-fits all solution, but support that is trustworthy, personalized, and delivered by experts.

“We’re still at the surface of what is possible for Peppy.”

Susan Lin, Investor at Felix Capital, said: “Since Felix started, ‘aspiration for a better life’ has been a core theme and we believe in the strong opportunity for digital health and wellness solutions to improve this.

“Peppy is at the forefront of three huge market trends and we believe is positioned to become a category-defining brand.

“We look for signs of “customer love” in all our investments and this couldn’t be stronger in Peppy. We’ve been told verbatim from users that Peppy is a lifesaver.

“I wish I had Peppy when I was pregnant, and we’re thrilled to partner with the team in their journey to bring better support to millions of people.”

Peppy is planning to use the funding to scale new and existing products. This includes the launch of what it claims to be the world’s first men’s health service to employers, another area where traditional healthcare solutions often fall short.

Talking about this new service, another Peppy co-founder Max Landry said: “Having experienced the challenges of parenting first-hand, I am thrilled to see more and more people get access to the support they need.

“More and more employers are learning that providing remote, inclusive support for the individual is key.

“This new investment lets us build on and scale our current services and accelerate the launch of new verticals, like men’s health, and ultimately get more support to more people.”