Montréal-based femtech startup Coral has raised $4.1-million CAD seed round to address a yawning gap in women’s health care through its menopause virtual care platform.
The all-equity, all-primary round was led by Montréal-based Brightspark Ventures, with participation from Diagram Ventures and women-led venture capital (VC) fund The51. The round closed at the end of last year.
Coral is a newly launched virtual health platform that offers personalized care for women experiencing hormonal changes leading up to perimenopause all the way to post-menopause. The platform, which is accessible through an app, collects detailed information on the patient through questionnaires and blood tests which can be done at home or a clinic.
“We are very bullish about our ability to make a step-function change in women’s health.”
Fiona Lake Waslander
Coral
Users then connect with a nurse to develop a treatment plan, which can include medication such as hormone replacement therapy, lifestyle changes, and a nurse practitioner if needed, Coral said.
Coral matches users with a wellness coach, who is available to chat asynchronously with users to talk through symptom management. Co-founder and CEO Fiona Lake Waslander told BetaKit that these coaches act as an educational resource and ensure consistent follow-ups.
A six-month plan costs roughly $700. Coral’s services are eligible as medical expenses according to Canada Revenue Agency guidelines, so they may be covered under some users’ workplace benefits plans such as health spending accounts or private health services plans.
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Menopause symptoms hit every woman differently. Though most women experience the transition to menopause between 40 and 50, symptoms can arise earlier and last an average of seven years. Changes in hormone levels trigger symptoms in 85 to 95 percent of women, which can include hot flashes, insomnia, trouble concentrating, bone density loss, diminished libido and pain during intercourse, and severe depression.
Despite the ubiquitous nature of menopause symptoms, nearly 40 percent of Canadian women reported feeling that their symptoms were undertreated, according to a 2022 survey by the Menopause Foundation of Canada. A 2023 study of women in the United Kingdom found that over 20 percent considered leaving their roles at work due to menopause symptoms.
Waslander said her team will use the capital for platform development, marketing, brand awareness, and expanding its team of eight. Coral plans to be active nationwide by the end of the year.
Anna Chif, co-founder and chair of Coral, brings her expertise in co-founding virtual healthcare platform Dialogue, which was acquired by Sun Life Financial in 2023. Chif said that after leaving Dialogue, where she was chief product officer, she experienced hormonal changes that led to “completely debilitating” symptoms.
“In those years, that should be the prime of our lives,” Chif said. “We should be knocking it out of the park.”
Waslander said that her 20-plus years of experience in the tech industry, which included exiting digital home-remodelling company Skylight, meshed well with Chif’s experience scaling a digital health startup. Rounding out the co-founder trio is John McCalla, who was vice president of engineering at Dialogue.
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“We are very bullish about our ability to make a step-function change in women’s health,” Waslander said.
The women’s health technology, or femtech, sector in Canada has received little funding relative to health tech more broadly. Industry group Femtech Canada has called on the federal government to invest up to $100 million to support women-led health ventures as part of its next federal budget.
Coral’s model of a virtual health clinic resembles that of some American startups, such as Midi Health and Evernow, which also connect users with licensed healthcare professionals to manage menopause-related symptoms and health outcomes.
Canadian femtech startups include Montréal-based Eli Health, which has developed the Hormometer, a handheld device to track hormone changes, though it does not focus exclusively on menopause symptom management.
Feature image courtesy Coral.