Editor’s note: Welcome to The Pitch, a DC Inno special feature in which we spotlight young local startups led by underrepresented founders. These companies may not have much (or any) funding or revenue, but they do have plans — and they’re taking the initial steps to make things happen. Each month, we’ll highlight a different venture in the D.C.-area landscape, with an intention of following their journeys from this point forward. Previously we have featured CarpeDM, Old Dominion Flower Co., Acclinate, OneVillage, Isotonik Solutions, The New Norm and Deazly.
Layo George knew all too well that as a Black woman, she was disproportionately likely to die from her pregnancy.
“I was a maternal health nurse and was very familiar with the near misses, chronic suffering and sometimes death that can occur during the pregnancy journey for women who look like me,” she said. “I was also aware that Black women like me, with no preexisting condition and with private health insurance, still have three-to-four-times the likelihood of dying from pregnancy, compared to any white woman who has a chronic preexisting condition and is below the poverty line.”
“The problem was not me,” she said. “It was [and] is the health system.”
The disparities exist for a host of reasons, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Kaiser Family Foundation and others report, ranging from access to quality health care to higher rates of chronic diseases such as diabetes, to racism and implicit bias in health care. The social determinants of health — factors such as transportation, healthy food, good jobs, stable income, quality education, secure housing and safe neighborhoods — can also directly affect a person’s well-being.
D.C., for example, sees more pregnant women die in labor than most other U.S. cities. The maternal mortality rate in 2019 for Black women in D.C. was 71 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with 63.8 deaths nationally, according to United Health Foundation data.
That year, George created Wolomi LLC, an app for pregnant women of color. It’s among a growing set of tools from health systems, community clinics, startups, government and a roster of others in the region working to address the issue of maternal mortality. The goal, George said, is to help improve outcomes for these patients.
“I started this journey to share my experience, knowledge and expertise,” she said, “so that other women can have empowering and validating experiences on their journey.”
The pitch: Wolomi is an online pregnancy community providing resources and guidance to women of color, such as coaching at different stages of pregnancy. It sets out to address inequities in maternal health outcomes by making information and health experts available to patients — and, in doing so, “creating an environment where women feel validated,” George said. “Once we earn the trust of our moms, we are able to make an impact in health choices and health system navigation.”
The leadership: George is founder, CEO and chief clinical officer of Wolomi. A registered nurse with a focus on population health, she was most recently a practice operations resident in OB-GYN outpatient care at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, while earning her master’s in health system administration at Georgetown University. Prior positions include quality improvement specialist at the D.C. Primary Care Association, nurse manager for Mary’s Center’s Capital Clinical Integrated Network, lead contract compliance for the D.C. health department’s immunization program, and women’s health nurse at Baltimore’s MedStar Harbor Hospital.
The name: Wolomi takes its name from a word that, in George’s native Nigerian language of Yoruba, means “happy dipping hands in water” when directly translated. For her company, she said, it captures the idea that “the birthing process… is a happy thing.”
The business model: The company generates revenue by selling its membership to health plans, employers, government entities and other organizations, which then offer Wolomi to their networks and employees for free. The company also offers the app directly to consumers at $7.99 a month or $75 for the year, according to George, who declined to disclose revenue. The app is free to download, and membership gives access to tips ahead of doctor’s appointments, virtual group coaching, discussions led by nurses and other experts, mental health screenings, events and access to the network of women using the service. The company also makes the app available to people who can’t afford the membership.
The challenge: Growing the team is an ongoing challenge. “We want to create an ecosystem of team members and investors who believe in what we are creating and are passionate about the population we serve. It takes a lot of diligence, time, and money,” George said. Wolomi has four employees, including a chief technology officer and lead community midwife, as well as four advisers.
The game plan: Wolomi hopes to raise money in a seed round in a few months to fund sales, operations and research and development. Already armed with $100,000 from the Google for Startups Black Founders Fund, Wolomi is searching for a new sales team member as it focuses on getting its product in front of more potential customers.
