Healthcare
Melinda Gates’ venture fund just bet on hot women’s health startup Tia. Here’s the presentation it used to raise $100 million in 2021 to rebuild after COVID shutdowns.
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- The women’s healthcare startup Tia just landed funding from Melinda Gates’ Pivotal Ventures.
- The startup provides virtual and in-person care for women in California, New York, and Arizona.
- See the 30-slide presentation Tia used to raise $100 million in just three weeks in 2021.
As gaps in reproductive healthcare worsen in the US post-Roe v. Wade, women’s healthcare startup Tia wants to elevate the standards for women’s physical, mental, and reproductive care.
The startup, which provides virtual and in-person care with clinics in California, New York, and Arizona, has been expanding its services in the past year. The startup launched fertility services in May 2022 and announced a partnership with health system Cedars-Sinai in January to open more clinics across California in 2023.
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To power that expansion, Tia just announced an investment from Melinda French Gates’ venture fund, Pivotal Ventures.
While Tia didn’t provide the size of the investment or its resulting valuation, the startup said the raise brings Tia’s total funding to around $150 million. Tia’s last reported funding round was its $100 million Series B in September 2021, led by Lone Pine Capital.
The women’s health startup Tia lost all of its revenue “overnight” when the pandemic shut down its in-person clinic in March 2020, cofounder and CEO Carolyn Witte told Insider in September 2021.
Before the pandemic, Tia was building in-person healthcare clinics for women without the virtual component. Its first clinic was in New York City and offered primary-care services for a $150 annual membership fee.
Like many other healthcare companies, Tia started offering virtual care in 2020 to fill the gaps. But instead of going “all in” on virtual care, Witte said in 2021 that Tia embarked on a hybrid model that included virtual check-ins with in-person appointments once it was safe to do so.
That strategy felt contrarian at the time, Witte said, but has since paid off.
Insider in September 2021 got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Tia used to win over investors like Define Ventures and ACME in its Series B round. Read on to see the full presentation.
This article was initially published in September 2021 and has been updated in March following Pivotal Ventures’ investment in Tia.
Here is the 30-slide presentation Witte used to raise Tia’s $100 million Series B funding in just three weeks in 2021.
Tia is a women’s healthcare startup that offers a variety of healthcare services for women, both virtually and in person at its clinics.
Tia
At first, Tia delivered all of its healthcare services inside clinics. After the pandemic, it adopted a hybrid model that includes virtual-first consultations and follow-up appointments.
Tia
Part of Tia’s pitch is that it doesn’t treat “body parts” and instead treats the whole person. In addition to primary care, it also offers blood work, mental healthcare, and other services.
Tia
Tia patients are evaluated during a virtual meeting before going to the clinic. After the virtual appointment, a care team develops a personalized treatment plan that can include different specialties, such as diabetes management and anxiety treatment.
Tia
Witte said in September 2021 that the traditional healthcare system usually thinks of reproductive care when it comes to women’s health. She developed Tia to address reproductive conditions like polycystic ovary syndrome, which is also considered an endocrine condition that can affect a person’s mental health.
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Witte says combining different areas of care for one patient lowers costs for the patient and helps provide better outcomes by treating conditions more holistically, instead of in silos.
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In its pitch, Tia says its approach is to continually add more services with new funding. It launches virtually in a new city first, with new clinics opening shortly after.
Tia
Patients can see Tia for a wide variety of conditions that don’t have to be reproductive in nature, Witte said.
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Tia patients pay a $150 membership fee yearly. It accepts insurance for all of its services, including acupuncture and mental healthcare, Witte said.
Tia
Tia opened its first clinic in New York City in 2019. It added a clinic in Los Angeles in May 2021 after launching its virtual service first to test whether the new city would be a good fit for Tia patients.
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From the beginning, Witte was focused on how Tia members would experience healthcare in person. After the startup moved to a hybrid model, the team expanded its virtual offerings with a similar goal.
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In Los Angeles, Tia’s virtual-first approach led to 800 new members before the first in-person clinic opened, Witte said.
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At its opening, members had made 300 appointments at the Los Angeles clinic. Witte attributed the rapid growth to the patients’ experiences with the virtual services.
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Tia encourages its members to share their experiences on social media, which helps drive more membership sign-ups when it launches in new cities, Witte said.
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Tia treats female patients from puberty through menopause, Witte said.
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Witte described Tia as the “gatekeeper” for women’s health. It partners with other healthcare providers for areas outside its expertise, but it can treat many common conditions in its own clinics, she said.
Tia
Tia does also provide reproductive care, including annual exams and routine testing like pap smears in its “Well Woman” exams, which are fully covered by insurance plans.
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Witte said that many virtual-only companies have limitations on the types of care they can provide. She wanted Tia to continue providing in-person care after the pandemic to best serve its patients, she said.
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Tia members can access virtual appointments, blood-work reviews, and conduct follow-up appointments online or via its app.
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Tia also makes software for its clinicians and care team to better communicate with patients virtually and manage a hybrid model with in-person and virtual patients.
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Tia partnered with the workplace-productivity company Asana to run its software for clinicians.
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The software includes healthcare-specific functions like integrating electronic medical records and flagging relevant data for providers before appointments.
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Witte said that 60% of Tia’s care is delivered virtually and roughly 80% of patients’ first interaction with Tia is online.
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Tia also makes money on partnerships with other hospitals and healthcare organizations.
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Tia can recommend a patient visit a partner hospital to deliver her baby, for example, which benefits the hospital financially.
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Witte said investors were especially interested in the fact that women are the primary drivers of healthcare spending in the US. She estimated that women spend about $2.8 trillion on healthcare for themselves, their children, and their partners.
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Source: Healthline
Partnering with hospitals and other doctors also helps insulate Tia from losing as much revenue as it did in early 2020 because it adds another stream of income for the business should the others decrease.
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With the September 2021 funding, Tia planned to hire aggressively for both corporate and clinical roles, Witte said. The startup conducted a small round of layoffs in July 2022, cutting less than 6% of its workforce to enable Tia to continue to grow responsibly, Insider reported in November.
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Insider first reported Tia’s layoffs in November.
Witte is a former Google employee and oversees the company’s marketing and partnerships. Her cofounder Felicity Yost oversees the company’s data, technology, and business-operations departments.
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Witte hired executives from across healthcare, technology, and retail companies in a bid to build a new healthcare company within the existing system.
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