Seven Starling, a digital firm centered on girls's behavioral well being, introduced Tuesday that it has raised $10.9 million in a Collection A spherical of funding, which the corporate plans to make use of to assist extra girls entry its providers.

Seven Starling, primarily based in Washington, D.C., is initially centered on maternal psychological well being (although it plans to broaden to different life phases later). Girls are usually referred to the corporate by their gynecologist and are then paired with a therapist who focuses on perinatal psychological well being. Sufferers additionally get entry to group remedy, remedy administration providers, a affected person advocate, and in-app content material and workout routines. The corporate is affiliated with most main industrial plans, together with UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, and Cigna.

The Collection A funding spherical was led by RH Capital and included participation from Pear VC, Expa, Enlarge Ventures, Emerson Collective, Inflect Well being, Zeal Capital Companions, Ulu Ventures, Fiore Ventures, the March of Dimes, Rogue Enterprise Companions, Graham & Walker, and Knowledge Ventures. In whole, Seven Starling raised $14.3 million.

What’s important about this funding is that Seven Starling has a majority of its traders who’re girls and has an all-female board of administrators, mentioned Tina Beilinson Keshani, co-founder and CEO of Seven Starling. This comes at a time when the enterprise capital trade is dominated by males.

In response to RH Capital, Seven Starling fills an unmet want.

“We’re excited in regards to the expanded and scalable choices, together with group remedy to extend entry,” Alice Zheng, MD, managing director at RH Capital, mentioned in an announcement. “As a brand new mom of two, I used to be shocked by the shortage of perinatal psychological well being care out there relative to the necessity and am grateful that Seven Starling has crammed that hole.”

With the funding, Seven Starling is targeted on increasing to extra sufferers. Whereas it at the moment works with most main industrial plans, it’s making ready to simply accept Medicaid. It’s going to additionally broaden to 10 to fifteen different states. It at the moment operates in Maryland, Virginia, Texas, New York and Washington, D.C. As well as, the funding will assist Seven Starling construct out its engineering group and know-how, Beilinson Keshani mentioned.

At present, about one in 5 girls wrestle with a psychological well being dysfunction or substance abuse dysfunction in the course of the perinatal interval. But solely 20 % of ladies are screened for psychological well being points throughout this time, in keeping with Beilinson Keshani, who has skilled her personal psychological well being points.

“I'm a mom myself,” she mentioned in an interview. “I simply had a child. I've been by means of the ups and downs of motherhood with being pregnant, miscarriage, postpartum and I'm additionally grateful that I’ve Seven Starling as a useful resource for myself.”

There was some enchancment in girls’s psychological well being care, Beilinson Keshani famous. The Biden-Harris administration not too long ago introduced $27.5 million in funding for girls’s behavioral well being. Seven Starling can be a part of a federal activity power fashioned final 12 months to enhance maternal psychological well being within the U.S.

Finally, Beilinson Keshani has a two-fold mission with Seven Starling.

“First, it’s to extend entry to behavioral well being providers for girls and allow each girl who’s struggling to get the care she deserves. And second, it’s to scale back the stigma of getting and searching for assist,” she mentioned.

Different firms centered on girls's psychological well being embrace Mavida Well being and LunaJoy.

Photograph credit: Knape, Getty Pictures