Pomelo Care, a virtual medical practice that improves maternal and newborn health outcomes, announced $46 million in Series B funding led by existing investors First Round Capital and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health. Pomelo will use this funding round to accelerate its partnerships with payors nationwide to address the root causes of the maternal health crisis.
About one in ten babies born in the US now start their life in a neonatal intensive care unit. And US maternal morbidity and mortality rates are higher than peer countries, and the disparities in outcomes for people of color are unacceptable. Healthcare access continues worsening, with 1 in 8 births occurring in U.S. counties with limited to no access to maternal care. Due to significant gaps in postpartum care, around half of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. occur after hospital discharge.
The evidence exists for identifying people at the highest risk for complications and which interventions are most effective, but the existing data gaps and provider capacity challenges make it extremely difficult to apply these interventions at scale.
Pomelo has created a care model that addresses these challenges by analyzing claims and health record data to proactively identify individual risk factors and providing virtual pregnancy, postpartum, and infant care to patients nationwide to reduce those risks, drastically increasing access to high-quality, evidence-based care and improving outcomes.
Pomelo has also achieved significant milestones this year including:
1.) $46 million in financing – The company announced $46 million in Series B financing, bringing total funding to $79 million. This Series B was led by existing investors First Round Capital and a16z. Stripes joined this round along with additional participation from existing investors SV Angel, Operator Partners and BoxGroup. And they join angels and healthcare industry leaders Adam Boehler, Founder and Managing Partner of Rubicon Founders, Former Director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), and Founder of Landmark Health and Puneet Singh, CEO of CareBridge.
2.) Covering over 3 million lives – Since the start of the year, Pomelo has grown its covered lives with health plan partners from 2 million to over 3 million, providing care to patients in 46 states.
3.) Published peer-reviewed data proving improvement in clinical outcomes – Pomelo presented new research at the 2024 ACOG Clinical & Scientific Meeting showing that Pomelo’s telemedicine care dramatically scales critical interventions that reduce the leading causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in a Medicaid population – hypertensive disorders like preeclampsia and mental health conditions. Pomelo’s care model increased rates of evidence-based aspirin prophylaxis by 2.4 times, proven to reduce preeclampsia risk by 25%, and mental health screening rates by 7 times, proven to reduce perinatal depression risk by 40%. And this fall, Pomelo will present data at both the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine Global Congress and the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference & Exhibition showing reductions in avoidable emergency room, inpatient, and NICU utilization as a result of Pomelo’s care.
KEY QUOTES:
“It’s rare to come across an opportunity where the incentives between patient, provider and payor are all aligned. Marta and the Pomelo team have found an incredible opportunity to dramatically improve outcomes for the highest risk populations, while helping payors reduce their avoidable costs.”
– Josh Kopelman, Partner at First Round Capital and Pomelo board member
“We’ve long known what works to reduce maternal and infant complications. The questions have always been: can you identify the patients who are at highest risk, can you deeply engage them in care to drive uptake of the prevention strategies we know work, and can you do it in the highest risk populations with the most limited access to care? This data demonstrates that we absolutely can. And with this additional funding, we’ll have the opportunity to scale our care model to more pregnant people across the country.”
– Marta Bralic Kerns, Founder & CEO of Pomelo Care
“Pomelo is one among a small set of health tech companies that have earned true scale. This scale is evident in our partnerships with major Medicaid and commercial plans covering over 3 million lives, which create the opportunity to collaborate with OB providers, labor and delivery wards, and NICUs nationwide, while serving hundreds of thousands of expecting mothers and newborns with high quality, technology-enabled care.”
– Vineeta Agarwala, MD, PhD, General Partner at a16z Bio + Health and Pomelo board member
