Leda Health is swapping out its headquarters in one trendy neighborhood for another as it embarks on setting up operations in Lawrenceville after leaving behind its prior home in Brooklyn, New York.
It's a move that's pretty sweet for Leda Health CEO and Founder Madison Campbell, who returns to her native Pittsburgh to run a burgeoning business with half a dozen employees out of about 1,000 square feet above Millie's Homemade ice cream shop on Butler Street. Campbell said she heard that tenants of this space have been able to access an unlimited supply of Millie's from the storefront below, though she has yet to confirm such a perk on her own as she redecorates and paints the space to her liking.
By the end of the month, Campbell hopes the new Leda Health headquarters will serve as a welcoming space to survivors of sexual assault and sexual violence.
The startup works to provide various forms of sexual assault prevention, care and reporting in a setting that's much more welcoming than the typical emergency room — where such matters are usually handled — in addition to its digital health services platform. Leda also offers patients access to early sexual assault evidence kits, sexually transmitted infection testing, emergency contraception, video and live chat support via a mobile app and a care team that's staffed every hour of every day.
Campbell said Leda Health, which bears its name from the Greek mythology story of "Leda and the Swan," has raised over $9.4 million in outside funding thus far. She said the startup isn't actively raising its next round yet but she's looking forward to doing so from Pittsburgh.
"Pittsburgh is a place, and I really want to come back and advocate for this, it's a place where you can scale a company," Campbell said. "You can make it really, really amazing. You can get the talent you need to actually build it."
Campbell continued: "I have so many friends who have startup companies, and I talk to them every day about their challenges with fundraising, with hiring, with scaling. And every single one of those challenges could be solved if they just moved here because people want to work here, people want the opportunity to change the world and they feel like not only is rent not as high, you can actually live, you can have your kids in a good education. … I'm just enamored by this place."
