California start-up raises US$1.5m to address maternal mental health problems

California-based start-up Mavida Health has secured US$1.5m in pre-seed funding to address maternal mental health problems.

Mavida Health is a passion project founded by two women who have personally navigated the rollercoaster of motherhood.

The start-up, co-founded by Dr Sarah Oreck and Emma Sugerman, aims to address the growing concern of mental health disorders among new and expecting mothers and make highly specialised, wrap-around care easily accessible and affordable.

One in seven women who have experienced childbirth grapple with postpartum depression, yet nearly half of them remain untreated, according to recent research.

In the UK, as many as one in five women develop a mental illness during pregnancy or in the first year after birth. Despite this, many pregnant women and new mothers are left with no access to specialist community perinatal mental health services.

“Mavida Health is more than just a platform; it’s a lifeline for mothers everywhere,” says Dr Oreck, one of a handful of doctors with specialised training in reproductive psychiatry where she combines medical treatments with talk therapy, meditation, and a whole-body complementary approach.

“Unlike most existing solutions, Mavida Health adopts a holistic “whole village approach”to mental health, offering a comprehensive suite of services that range from personalised therapy to medication management, alongside a wealth of carefully curated content.”

The start-up has successfully raised US$1.5m in pre-seed funding led by Lakehouse Ventures, a seed stage venture capital firm that supports founders during the earliest days of business formation.

The company will use the funds to build its product, including the Mavida Health app, and build out its team as the start-up scale from launch to their next phase.