D.C.-based maternal mental health startup Seven Starling has raised $10.9 million in an oversubscribed round to expand its virtual care services — which include supporting postpartum, early parenthood, infertility, miscarriage and loss and other experiences — further across the country.
San Francisco women’s health-focused venture firm RH Capital led the round and existing investors Menlo Park, California's Pear VC; San Francisco’s Expa; Santa Monica, California’s Magnify Ventures; Palo Alto, California’s Emerson Collective; and Emeryville, California’s Inflect Health also took part.
Emerson Collective is led by Laurene Powell Jobs, who is an investor in D.C.'s Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the owner of the Washington Wizards, Capitals, Mystics and other sports ventures. Emerson counts The Atlantic magazine, which is based in the District, among its holdings.
D.C.’s Zeal Capital Partners — which launched its health equity vertical in 2023 — Palo Alto’s Ulu Ventures; Venice, California’s Fiore Ventures; Arlington-based the March of Dimes; Lake Oswego, Oregon’s Rogue Venture Partners; Seattle’s Graham & Walker; and San Francisco’s Wisdom Ventures invested in Seven Starling for the first time with this round.
Seven Starling CEO Tina Beilinson Keshani, a former Warby Parker senior manager for strategy and corporate development, started the company with her Harvard Business School classmates Julia Cole and Sophia Richter in 2020. Cole is now the company’s chief people officer and Richter is its COO.
“My personal journey through pregnancy, miscarriage, and motherhood has deepened my understanding and commitment to improving women's health,” Keshani said in an email.
The trio publicly launched the company, which provides all its services virtually, the following year and announced the completion of a $2.9 million seed round.
It partners with many of the country’s largest health insurance providers, meaning its services are in-network for nearly 90% of its existing patients. In addition to clinical evaluations and medication management, it provides individual and group therapy for women experiencing depression, anxiety and other mental health needs related to parenthood. Copays for in-network appointments are between $0 and $30, Keshani said.
To date, Seven Starling has raised $14.3 million.
Now, the firm — which is headquartered at 700 K St. NW — plans to expand its partnerships and begin to accept Medicaid, a state and federal program that covers health insurance costs for low-income individuals. The move is part of Seven Starling’s “commitment to its mission to make its services more accessible to all women across the U.S.,” Keshani said.
The tech-enabled mental health company will also use the funds to keep “developing innovative technology to further integrate with health care partners,” Keshani said.
She declined to share revenue information, but said it currently has 16 employees and is looking to grow through hiring staff in its sales, engineering, operations and clinical teams. Most employees are based remotely across the U.S.
A number of startups have launched in recent years aiming to close the gap in access to maternal health — between Black and white mothers, in particular.
Women’s health overall is “an area of significant need," Alice Zheng, principal at lead investor RH Capital said in a statement about the firm's investment in Seven Starling. "As a recent mom of two myself, I have been shocked by the lack of perinatal mental health support available relative to need and am thankful to see Seven Starling filling that gap,” Zheng said.
