Good morning! A haka in New Zealand parliament goes viral, General Motors cuts jobs, and a menopause startup takes on capital to move from profitability to growth.
– Money for menopause. Monica Molenaar and Anne Fulenwider founded the menopause care startup Alloy four years ago. When they first spoke to investors, the response they often heard was, “That’s kind of niche, isn’t it?” Fulenwider remembers.
Recently, the cofounders and co-CEOs returned to the investor circuit and raised $16 million in a Series A round, Fortune is the first to report. This time—despite a still-difficult fundraising landscape—the responses they heard were different, from enthusiasm about the category estimated at $17 billion globally to an acknowledgment of Alloy’s competitors. “The conversation had much changed,” Fulenwider says. Kairos HQ led the Series A round, which also included participants PACE Healthcare Capital, Emmeline Ventures, and Amboy Street Ventures.
Fulenwider and Molenaar were inspired to found their company by Molenaar’s experience entering surgical menopause at age 40 after she had her ovaries removed following a diagnosis with the BRCA gene. Molenaar had tried her hand at entrepreneurship before, while Fulenwider pivoted from a career as the editor-in-chief of Marie Claire. They tapped as Alloy’s chief medical advisor Sharon Malone, a women’s health expert and friend of Michelle Obama who they heard on the former first lady’s podcast.
They’ve taken a slow-and-steady approach to growth and are profitable. “It was really great to be able to build such an efficient business model and figure out that we could do this and become profitable without raising a whole bunch of money,” Fulenwider says. The Alloy platform offers asynchronous treatment by doctors, with a $50 annual fee and prescriptions starting at $40 a month. The founders decided not to accept insurance, aiming for ease of access and price transparency instead.
Some other menopause startups have taken a flashier approach; Joanna Strober’s Midi, for example, recently added a cohort of celebrities including Amy Schumer and Connie Britton to its cap table and has raised $103 million.
While Alloy has had a judicious strategy so far, the founders are interested in entering growth mode a bit more with this capital, expanding from treating acute menopause symptoms to offering products across hair, skin, and sexual wellness categories for women in midlife. The startup right now has 28 full-time employees and has about two dozen doctors on its platform.
The menopause category often gets lumped together as everything from science-driven companies to digital health businesses to beauty and wellness brands. “There are always people who are going to be out there trying to sell people expensive stuff that doesn’t work,” Fulenwider says. “All of the new menopause companies that are doing similar things to what we’re doing, if we all counted all of our customers—we still haven’t reached remote market penetration of even the women who are looking for help.”
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Haka for a cause. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, an MP in New Zealand, led a haka in parliament in protest of a controversial bill that would reinterpret a 184-year old treaty with the Māori people. The moment the 22-year-old MP ripped up a copy of the bill and led the traditional dance has gone viral. Guardian
- Cutting costs. Mary Barra’s General Motors cut 1,000 jobs in another round of layoffs. The company’s cost-cutting efforts coincide with its push into EV; other automakers have also been letting employees go as they try to cut costs. Wall Street Journal
- Hair care. Meghan Markle invested in Highbrow Hippie, a hair wellness line founded by her hair colorist Kadi Lee and Myka Harris. “I am so proud to invest in her as a friend and as a female founder,” said the Duchess of Sussex. InStyle
- Sophomore signing. Adidas signed a name, image, and likeness deal with high school sophomore Kaleena Smith, the class of 2027’s top women’s basketball recruit. This is the brand’s first deal with a high school female basketball player and the first signing under Adidas’ women’s basketball president Candace Parker. CNBC
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
A+ Federal Credit Union appointed Julie Bowering as senior vice president of lending. Most recently, she was SVP, residential lending at Elements Financial Federal Credit Union.
Communify Fincentric, a market and client data platform for financial services, named Nicole Nakashian chief operating officer. Most recently, she was InvestCloud’s COO.
Rhone, a performance apparel brand, named Bethany Evans chief marketing officer. Most recently, she was VP of Americas marketing at The North Face.
Sherwin-Williams named president and CEO Heidi Petz chair of the board of directors.
Melmark, a special education nonprofit, appointed Maureen McMahon as chair of the board of directors. Most recently, she served as the board’s vice chair. She is a medical director/medical consult and infectious disease and vaccines review physician at Merck.
Patrice & Associates, a recruiting firm for hospitality and franchises and a portfolio company of Conscious Capital Growth, appointed Dedria Ryan to its board of directors. She is SVP of integration and growth acceleration at Conscious Capital Growth.
Jamieson Wellness, the owner of natural health brands, appointed Diane Nyisztor to its board of directors. Previously, she served as SVP and CHRO at Cogeco.
ON MY RADAR
Inside the Goldman Sachs marketing push that has some execs perplexed Business Insider
The news, now in neon color Washington Post
Women get less exercise than men. It’s a problem New York Times
PARTING WORDS
“It was a really wonderful experience to be able to step into this role, outside of my own skin, and into someone else’s, who has also been ‘othered.’ It’s important to know what it feels like.”
—Cynthia Erivo on playing Elphaba in the new movie Wicked
