Human beings are known to be good at a million different things, and yet there is nothing we do better than growing on a consistent basis. Now, when you are able to get better under all circumstances, you, almost as a by-product, go on to achieve some significant milestones along the way. The same is pretty evident in everything we have achieved so far, with one piece of testimony also coming from an idea called technology. In fact, what technology has done for us stands a cut above the rest, and it does so because of reasons that are much bigger than its ingenious skill-set. These reasons, to give some context, even talk to the manner in which the stated skills were executed, as that really helped the creation in impacting an entire spectrum, including our very own healthcare sector. Technology’s foray into healthcare, interestingly enough, came at a time when the sector was struggling to hold up against an outright obsolete structure. This would change big time, but despite getting somewhat of a second life, the medical landscape, backed up by technology’s stewardship, will continue to grow under one capacity or the other. If anything, this dynamic should only get reinforced on the back a recent funding.
Materna Medical, a company that has made a name for itself in the Ob-gyn medical devices’ space, has successfully secured $22 million in Series B financing. The round, which was led by Innovahealth Partners, is expected to help the company in widening the overall footprint of pelvic health devices, something that has been Materna’s goal since the very beginning. Founded in 2010, the Mountain View, California-based player has tried to bolster up the attention towards pelvic health through various cutting-edge devices. In its first bid, Materna launched an expanding vaginal dilator called Milli. Priced at $395, Milli was designed to treat vaginismus and dyspareunia. The reason why this was an important development is predicated upon the fact that vaginismus, as a medical complication, has always carried a misinformed reputation among people, therefore also keeping its treatments pretty limited in their efficacy.
“Sadly, not much is taught about vaginismus in medical school,” said Tracy MacNeal, CEO of Materna Medical. “This lack of information means that patients often suffer with the condition for five years or more and see several clinicians who don’t know how to diagnose or treat it.”
It’s safe to say the device has worked out just like how it was intended, as up until now, it has already served more 130 clinical practices and 3,000 patients.
Beyond Milli, Materna is currently testing a device called Prep, which if works, will look to make a sizeable 60% cut back on pelvic floor injury.
“Ninety percent of moms experience perineal lacerations during childbirth — sometimes these are minor injuries, and sometimes they are life-changing, causing permanent disfigurement, sexual dysfunction and long term urinary and fecal incontinence,” MacNeal said. “Additionally, damage to the pelvic floor muscles themselves are common, up to 30% of all childbirth injuries involve muscle damage.”
While the technological significance of Materna’s latest raise is unquestionable, it also bears some huge social importance, considering female founders only got about 2% of the total venture capital raised in 2021. Hence, Tracy and several other female leaders should look at this funding as a cue to shake up the entire system.
