Celebrities flock to menopause startup Evernow

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April 6, 2022

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Colorado guarantees the right to abortion via state law, women of color are fleeing the BBC, and even money and privilege can’t buy access to high-quality menopause health care as some investors are learning. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
– Spending power. Money can buy access to a number of health care services, but even still, it has its limits. Take menopause, for instance. While it’s a near-universal experience for women, the medical community gives the transition little attention.
This is a discovery that many women in their 40s and 50s make as they approach perimenopause and menopause, and it’s one that inspired an eclectic group of investors to back the menopause telehealth startup Evernow, which announced a $28.5 million Series A close today. The category is small but growing within women’s health: about 12 startups in the space attracted venture funding in the past year.
Evernow’s funding round boasts a star-studded lineup: SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell; actor and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow; actor and talk show host Drew Barrymore; actor and entrepreneur Cameron Diaz; author Glennon Doyle; and soccer star Abby Wambach have all invested in the startup founded by Alicia Jackson.
Evernow investors Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and soccer star Abby Wambach.Getty Images (4) “As a woman who has talked openly about being in perimenopause, I’ve been shocked by the lack of attention and solid guidance paid to this significant health event,” Paltrow told me of her decision to invest. “Visibility is key, but alongside that we need real innovation. I invested in this space to help move the needle forward for all of us at this life stage and beyond.”
That’s a feeling shared by Paltrow’s co-investors, Jackson says. Alongside the celebrity lineup, Evernow’s Series A backers include NEA, 8VC, Refactor Capital, and Coelius Capital. Other angel investors are longtime Morgan Stanley exec Carla Harris and Care.com founder Sheila Lirio Marcelo, who helped attract the group of high-profile angels. While the Hollywood investors are all notable in their own right, Shotwell’s financial backing is arguably the most newsworthy; the SpaceX president rarely gives interviews and hasn’t publicly announced many personal investments.
“[It’s] the fact that no one ever spoke to them about this,” says Jackson of what inspired this cohort to underwrite the company. “Even women of incredible means cannot get any help here. Even women with incredible resources have a very hard time navigating this and getting really great health care.”
Evernow founder and CEO Alicia Jackson.Courtesy of Evernow Menopause and perimenopause symptoms, and their impact on women’s health, rarely make public discourse. “This transition from 100% estrogen to 1% estrogen has all these lasting health consequences for the next several decades of life,” says Jackson, who has a doctorate in nanotechnology. “A lot of doctors are operating off of outdated information about menopause and about treatments. Menopause truly is the backwater of medicine.”
While symptoms like hot flashes and insomnia are well known, Jackson argues that the way menopause truly affects women’s health is not adequately studied or communicated to patients. Frequent menopausal hot flashes, for example, are associated with a 50% higher risk of cardiovascular disease later in life, according to research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Evernow and its medical advisers are hoping to add to this body of research. Already, they’ve surveyed 100,000 women on their experiences with menopause and plan to publish the findings in a peer-reviewed journal.
Founded in 2019, Evernow offers telehealth patients hormone therapies including estradiol patches or pills, and SSRI paroxetine, used to treat hot flashes and night sweats. The company’s approach is centered on addressing underlying health factors associated with menopause, rather than solely managing symptoms, such as weight gain and hair loss.
“We overlook it and just call it getting older,” Jackson says. “It’s unacceptable.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
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