Women’s health startup Ovum has raised $4 million in seed funding, tripling its valuation as it works to use AI to address the women’s health gap.
The company is founded by Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks, a trained medical doctor turned entrepreneur who is set to speak at our upcoming Women’s Health and Wellbeing Summit in Sydney on September 1.
According to the company, it is building the first-ever AI infrastructure for women’s health.
Dr Heffernan-Marks has previously told Women’s Agenda how her experiences in the health system led her to founding the startup that she hopes will support women to better advocate for themselves in clinical settings.
Since launching in August last year, Ovum has grown 30 per cent month-on-month with 20,000 downloads and the company says it has captured 60,000 women’s health data insights and more than 113,000 AI health conversations from women.
The seed round was led by Admiralty Capital Group with participation from Antler, Giant Leap, Aviron Investments, Foggy Valley Aotearoa, Brisbane Angels, and Think & Grow. LaunchVic also increased its investment through The Alice Anderson Fund. It comes after previously securing $1.7 million in a pre-seed round.
“I’ve sat on both sides of the desk, as a patient and as a doctor, and that’s why this mission matters so much to me,” Dr Heffernan-Marks said.
“For too long, women have had to navigate healthcare systems that were not designed around their lived experiences or backed by sufficient female health data.
“Ovum exists to help women better understand their bodies, advocate for themselves with confidence, and contribute to research that improves care for future generations.”
Dr Heffernan-Marks said the $4 million raise allows Ovum to scale its mission to reach more women and build a trusted platform ground in clinical integrity, privacy and consent.
Ovum launched clinical trials with St George Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Women earlier this year, becoming the first in Australia to assess AI as a preventative health tool designed specifically for women.
For those concerned about privacy, Ovum says it is focused on building privacy into its foundation, noting data is encrypted and protected to global standards. To date, 83 per cent of Ovum users have opted in to share anonymised data that will contribute to research that improves understanding, treatment, and care for women.
“The most compelling companies are often built around problems society has learned to tolerate but should never have accepted. The gender health gap is one of those problems,” said Amanda Andriano, Founding Partner at Admiralty Capital Group.
“Ovum combines mission, market timing and technical capability with an exceptional founder uniquely positioned to lead this movement, and we believe that creates the foundation for a company of global significance.”
Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks will be speaking at the Women’s Health and Wellbeing summit on the innovation panel in Sydney on September 1.