MATTER announces inaugural 51 Labs cohort innovating in menopause

11 startups selected to participate in robust accelerator

December 5, CHICAGO — MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub, alongside Astellas Pharma US, Walgreens, BayCare, Parkview Health, University of Chicago Medicine and Capita3 has selected 11 startups for the inaugural 51 Labs cohort to advance their menopause innovations and transform as a leader.

On September 19, 2022, MATTER launched 51 Labs, along with dedicated partners, sponsors and collaborators, to address the gap in women’s health innovation, with this year’s focus on empowering and supporting women+ during their menopausal transition. From a pool of dozens of impressive applications spanning five continents, seven countries and 18 U.S. cities, a review panel of subject matter experts and industry leaders narrowed the cohort to 11 startups — Alloy Health, Amira, Libbie Health, Liv Labs, Madorra, MyMenopauseRx, Patient Orator, Plenapausa, Renalis Health, Snippa and Thermaband.

The cohort will participate in a curated 12-week accelerator with custom curriculum including a 21-day intensive module called Leader Launch, a program led and created by Capita3, designed to transform startup founders into top CEOs who go on to accomplish significant company milestones. Following the Leader Launch module, the cohort will participate in workshops, industry roundtables and cross-industry mentor sessions focused on four key areas of building their business: go-to-market strategy, product-market fit, fundraising and presentation and selling skills.

Throughout the accelerator, the cohort will receive guidance from lead mentors Pamela York, co-founder and managing partner of Capita3, Delphine O’Rourke, leader of Goodwin’s women’s health and wellness industry practice, and Jennifer Fried, lead investor at Portfolia’s FemTech Fund. The program will culminate in a final showcase at MATTER on March 2, 2023, where the startups will pitch their solutions to the MATTER community, Astellas, Walgreens, BayCare, Parkview, University of Chicago Medicine, Capita3 and Portfolia Femtech Fund among other key industry stakeholders. More information on the final showcase to come.

Learn more about the startups

Alloy Women’s Health — New York, New York
Alloy Women’s Health is revolutionizing the way women age, beginning with the symptoms of menopause. They provide access to NAMS-certified doctors, expert-vetted content and evidence-based solutions, all through their easy-to-use digital platform and their online pharmacy. No need to leave your home or make the search for solutions a full-time job. They believe women over 40 deserve to feel fantastic and are giving them the tools to do so.

Amira — Somerville, Massachusetts
Amira, formerly AuraBlue, is a menopause+ care platform leveraging wearable tech and AI, launching with an automated precision hot flash relief service that keeps women sleeping through their nighttime hot flashes.

Libbie Health — Brooklyn, New York
Libbie Health was formed to address disparities in mental healthcare. They believe that behavioral health solutions should approach care from an intersectional lens, taking into account the different dimensions that influence a person’s identity and impact their wellbeing. They’re building Libbie, a mental wellness chatbot and self-care app that offers personalized support to help women of color relieve anxiety and stress, track moods and build self-care habits.

Liv Labs — Chicago, Illinois
Twenty-nine million American women worry about leaking pee in public. Liv Labs is making a simple medical device to keep them dry at the gym and adaptive exercise software to restore natural continence.

Madorra — Portland, Oregon
Madorra is developing devices to replace pharmaceuticals with better, safer solutions for unmet needs in women’s health. Madorra’s first product is a revolutionary treatment for vaginal atrophy with FDA Breakthrough designation.

MyMenopauseRx — Wheaton, Illinois
MyMenopauseRx is a women’s healthcare company and developer of the only online doctor’s office devoted to treating the unique healthcare needs of women in perimenopause and menopause anchored by in-person gynecology clinics. The company’s value-based, hybrid approach to women’s healthcare improves access to certified menopause practitioners and women’s healthcare specialists who leverage health education, lifestyle coaching, supplements, lab testing and prescription treatments to create personalized evidence-based treatment plans for healthy aging.

Patient Orator — Harrison, New York
Patient Orator is a digital health hub for shared decision-making between individuals and their care teams, providing effective communication tools so that people can thrive in their health journeys.

Plenapausa — Sao Paulo, Brazil
Plenapausa provides support and empowerment for women+ during menopausal transition. Plenapausa is the first femtech in Brazil to address menopause care through four pillars: information, dialogue Circle, products and customized journeys.

Renalis Health — Cleveland, Ohio
Renalis treats chronic, expensive and stigmatized conditions below the belt (pelvic health disorders) in women+ with easy-to-use, clinically-proven digital therapeutics. By doing so, Renalis solves a void in the market for accessible solutions for first-line therapy for the 33 million+ people struggling with these disorders. Renalis’ novel platform removes barriers to equity and access to treatment, saving providers and patients time, improving outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

Snippa — Annapolis, Maryland
Snippa revolutionizes the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic UTIs as well as STIs, combining a prompt telehealth visit to address symptoms immediately with at-home specimen collection. Expedited shipping back to their lab and provider follow-up for definitive care closes the loop for expert and targeted therapy and prevention. Snippa integrates the most up-to-date testing modality, detecting minute quantities of bacterial genetic material with traditional urine culture and sensitivity so that patients can be treated quickly and correctly, the first time.

Thermaband — Miami, Florida
Thermaband is a health tech company that provides thermal comfort through a temperature regulating bracelet and connected companion app with digital menopausal-related health insights. Backed by Google, Flybridge and Blue Collective VC, among others, Thermaband has been featured in Forbes and Cosmopolitan, has a community of over 60K women and has raised over $1.5M.

About MATTER

At MATTER, we believe collaboration is the best way to improve healthcare. The MATTER collaborative includes more than 700 current and alumni startups from around the world, working together with dozens of hospitals and health systems, universities and industry-leading companies to build the future of healthcare. Together we are accelerating innovation, advancing care and improving lives. For more information, visit matter.health and follow @MATTERhealth.

About Astellas Pharma US, Inc.

Astellas Pharma US, Inc. is a U.S. affiliate of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., a pharmaceutical conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. Astellas stands on the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into value for patients. Keeping our focus on addressing unmet medical needs and conducting our business with ethics and integrity enables us to improve the health of people throughout the U.S. and around the world. For more information on Astellas, please visit: https://www.astellas.com/us. You can also follow us on Twitter at @AstellasUS, Facebook at www.facebook.com/AstellasUS or LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/astellas-pharma-us. 

About Walgreens

Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) is included in the United States segment of Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA), an integrated healthcare, pharmacy and retail leader serving millions of customers and patients every day, with a 170-year heritage of caring for communities. As America’s most loved pharmacy, health and beauty company, Walgreens purpose is to champion the health and well-being of every community in America. Operating nearly 9,000 retail locations across America, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Walgreens is proud to be a neighborhood health destination serving approximately 9 million customers each day. Walgreens pharmacists play a critical role in the U.S. healthcare system by providing a wide range of pharmacy and healthcare services. To best meet the needs of customers and patients, Walgreens offers a true omnichannel experience, with fully integrated physical and digital platforms, supported by the latest technology to deliver high-quality products and services in local communities nationwide.

About BayCare

BayCare is a leading not-for-profit healthcare system that connects individuals and families to a wide range of services at 15 hospitals and hundreds of other convenient locations throughout the Tampa Bay and central Florida regions. The system is West Central Florida’s largest provider of behavioral health and pediatric services and its provider group, BayCare Medical Group, is one of the largest in the region. BayCare’s diverse network of ambulatory services includes laboratories, imaging, surgical centers, BayCare Urgent Care locations, wellness centers and one of Florida’s largest home care agencies, BayCare HomeCare. Its Medicare Advantage insurance, BayCarePlus, is among the region’s few 5-star-rated plans and the system is ranked in the top 20 percent of large health systems in the country by FORUTNE/MerativeTM. BayCare’s mission is to improve the health of all it serves through community-owned, health care services that set the standard for high-quality, compassionate care.

About Parkview Health

Parkview Health is a not-for-profit, community-based health system serving a northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio population of more than 895,000. Parkview Health’s mission is to improve health and inspire well-being in the communities it serves. With more than 14,000 employees, Parkview is the region’s largest employer. Parkview Health includes 10 hospitals and an extensive network of primary care and specialty care physicians. Parkview has been designated a Magnet® health system for nursing excellence.

About University of Chicago Medicine

The University of Chicago Medicine, with a history dating back to 1927, is one of the nation’s leading academic medical institutions. UChicago Medicine comprises the University of Chicago Medical Center, which offers a full range of primary and specialty care for adults and children through more than 40 institutes and centers; Ingalls Memorial, a community-based hospital and outpatient facility; a network of outpatient clinics and physician practices throughout Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana; the Pritzker School of Medicine, one of the top medical schools in the nation; and the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division, with an affiliated 12 Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine.

About Capita3

Capita3 delivers cohort-based programs that transform entrepreneurs and healthcare innovators into leaders who can operate at their highest level of performance. Our methods are fast, personalized, and outcomes driven. Upon completing Capita3 programs, outstanding results occur for many participants, often at unprecedented speed.

Capita3 programs are organized around a significant, individualized business milestone for which there is considerable risk and uncertainty, and each person develops a personalized plan for achieving that milestone. Participants are facilitated through processes of discovery where they can see and resolve any internal barriers that could interfere with their success, while simultaneously learning how to leverage their natural powers to gain rapid traction.