Millie is a new kind of maternity clinic built by moms and healthcare providers who have been there. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Millie founder and CEO Anu Sharma to learn more.
Anu Sharma’s Background
Sharma spent more than 15 years working in healthcare, first as a management consultant doing strategy and M&A work and then in employer health startup space. And Sharma said:
“Along the way I’ve worked with several of the largest health plans & hospital systems in the US and learned what it really takes to make change happen in the industry. More here.”
Formation Of Millie
How did the idea for Millie come together? Sharma shared:
“The company was born out of my own ‘near miss’ following the birth of my daughter. I ended up saving my own life, even though I had been getting care at one of the top health systems in the country.”
“I’ve been around healthcare a long time professionally and come from a family of physicians, so I wasn’t new to the idea that US healthcare is broken. But I saw firsthand how broken our maternal health model is in terms of patient experiences and poor outcomes. I believe we deserve better. More on the Millie story here.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Sharma reflected:
“The birth of the first Millie baby…. in a surreal coincidence, the patient began to develop complications very similar to what I had in my own pregnancy, but her experience and outcomes turned out to be very different because of our care model. Millie was built to do this, and we saw first hand how it can change the statistics we read about.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Sharma explained:
“Millie provides end-to-end maternity care from conception through early parenthood with a tech-enabled clinic model that is designed to provide more complete, proactive, and right sized care for better patient experiences and clinical outcomes.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges has Sharma faced in her sector of work? Sharma acknowledged:
“Women’s health is an inherently political space and fundraising can also be challenging given <2% of VC dollars go to women founders and the space gets <5% of all venture investment in healthcare. We are not immune to these macro challenges.”
“But building a tech-enabled maternity clinic from the ground up is a uniquely complex undertaking. You are birthing babies so you need to really think through the clinical care model, tech stack, brand and experience, insurance contracts, as well as health system partnerships for labor & delivery and the pathway for any complex care needs that come up.”
“We have built a very formidable team to deal with these challenges with a deep background in healthcare, maternal health, and tech-enabled care delivery.”
Evolution Of Millie’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Sharma noted:
“We spend a lot of time thinking about our tech stack so it is built for scale, robust clinical management, and a delightful patient experience – all while being able to integrate with health plans & systems, many of whom live on legacy systems.”
“At the moment we are investing in our clinical workflows so we can continue to stratify patients based on risk, track predictive clinical indicators, and automate operations with AI-enablement to free up clinical time for patient care.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Sharma cited:
“We have cared for more than 1000 patients and had over 100 Millie babies in just over 15 months, while exceeding national benchmarks on key maternal health metrics and achieving high NPS scores. This is a testament to our care model and the undeniable fact that patients want it.”
Funding
After asking Sharma about the company’s funding, she revealed:
“Millie has raised $6.8M in seed funding to date from leading investors, including TMV, BBG Ventures, RH Capital, and Ingeborg Investments.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Sharma assessed:
“The US has nearly 6 million pregnancies per year with 3.5 million to 4 million births. The TAM is $50 billion for maternity alone and $100+ billion when you include broader women’s health & wellness services (which we also offer) and the early parenthood resources.”
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Sharma affirmed:
“Please see a side-by-side comparison table of Millie’s care model vs. standard care on our website. In short, Millie provides more complete, proactive, and right-sized care vs the prevailing US maternal health model.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Sharma concluded:
“Millie is building a national presence via health system and payor partnerships. Our 2024 expansion plans focus on California, and we will also be launching new products & services to more fully meet the needs of expectant and new parents.”
