How Do Healthtech Founders Win Over Investors?

Speaker A: Welcome to Startup Success, the podcast for startup founders and investors. Here you'll find stories of success from others in the trenches as they work to scale some of the fastest growing startups in the world. Stories that will help you in your own journey. Startup Success starts now.

Speaker B: Welcome to Startup Success. In this episode, I sit down with Melissa Hanna, co founder and CEO of mommy, a maternal health care technology platform. Reimagining how families receive support during pregnancy and postpartum care. The company's technology platform and the way they leverage AI has attracted a lot of investors including Mark Cuban, Serena Williams and AOL founder Steve Case. The company also had a very successful series, a funding round led by Goldman Sachs. In this episode we explore how MOMI combines technology with human centered care teams to close critical gaps in maternal health and what it takes to fundraise and then scale a mission driven health tech company in today's evolving healthcare and AI landscape. Thanks again for being here, Melissa. Uh, so excited to get into momi. But before we do, would you mind like walking us through your background and what led to the founding?

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely, I'm happy to do that. So my background is in law and business and healthcare policy and I began building MOMMY while I was pursuing uh, my JD and my MBA in Los Angeles after having worked for several other impact oriented and mission focused startups, really purpose driven teams and seeing a number of different CEOs focused on building technology solutions across healthcare and also education as well. So that's where I got my start. And uh, I've always had a passion for serving others and specifically in the realms of health and education. Never thought I would start my own business certainly right out of grad school. My goal was to go back to um, impact oriented tech, uh, tech technology startups and continued working with those leaders and bringing the new skills and knowledge that I had earned to their work. But then came up for the idea, came up with the idea for MOMMY while I was in grad school and began building it when I graduated.

Speaker B: Oh, neat. Okay, so tell us about mommy because the listeners kind of get the full picture and what you're doing. It's very, very cool.

Speaker C: Oh, thank you. So yeah, Mommy is, um, an integrated maternal healthcare platform. We are the data, payments and workforce infrastructure for maternity. And uh, we focus on the key areas of support that are typically not covered by or provided by the ob, GYN or the pediatrician or the hospital. They play really key roles, certainly pregnancy and in postpartum care, but there's a lot of other key players as well that don't get as much of the spotlight. We're talking about lactation consultants, doulas, mental health providers, nutritionists, and then also registered nurses who provide home based care, remote patient monitoring and ongoing telehealth support to patients throughout that critical window of time from the pregnancy all the way through baby's first birthday. So we cover those key areas of support and we have a team of professionals who work closely together, collaborate to provide that care to families. And what we've done that's unique in our business is that we've built the platform that powers not just the service delivery itself for patients to get access to this care, but the longitudinal data set and the payment infrastructure to make it really easy for this care to be covered by insurance across the country.

Speaker B: Wow, that's amazing. First, the need you're fulfilling because we can get into that. But then second, just the technology that you've built. That's incredible. So I don't think people realize that in the United States there's not a lot of support for pregnancies and new mothers. I mean, my kids are in their 20s now, but I remember those days. And there's just, it's very limited, it's very confusing, unorganized, easily fall through the cracks. So what prompted in your life that this need was out there?

Speaker C: Well, my exposure to this world of, uh, maternal and infant health comes through my own mother, who is a registered. Yeah, registered nurse certified in obstetrics and is a board certified lactation consultant and is most well known for having designed some of the most successful inpatient and outpatient maternity care programs in California at major health systems and hospitals across the state. So I grew up with someone who was deep in this industry and very focused and very committed to the wellbeing of moms and babies. And I was always inspired by that. I always knew how important it was. But to your point about the stats and just sort of the experience of having a baby in the United States, I didn't understand how costly it is and I didn't understand how challenging it can be for families to get the care they need, even when there are professionals across the country who are really committed to providing that care and wanting to see the best experience possible be available to every family. We can all want these things, but the industry can be kind of messy and fragmented and disjointed. And that can make it really challenging for families to get access to the support that they deserve.

Speaker B: Absolutely. You frame that really well for the other founders listening you have this idea, you've Been inspired by your mom, which is really neat. Kind of full circle here. How do you go about starting to build the technology and taking that first step in deciding, okay, I'm going to do this, I'm going to become a founder, because I know people listening. That's a big decision. It's scary.

Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, because I had been working in startups for years, I was familiar with the ups and downs, uh, with entrepreneurial life. I was very familiar with and comfortable work with working in, you know, in tech startups. Because that's, that's really what, what I loved and it's what I was really interested in continuing to sort of to build out a career in, in starting momme on sort of outside of, uh, the career that I had in building, um, companies with other leaders. I brought together an early team of folks that I trusted and um, felt understood the opportunity and the vision. And that team included my own mom, who is an expert in this space. So having people around that really get what it is that you see in the market as an opportunity, agree with that, have their own ideas on how to contribute to it, and can provide that honest feedback is really important. And that definitely emboldened me and strengthened my vision and my commitment to working on this challenge. And really fundamentally, the challenge is one that has broad impact for all of us. Um, the United States spends more than any other wealthy developed nation, you know, any other major, uh, player on, uh, the global stage to take care of moms and babies. So we spend the most of anyone. We get the worst results in return. We have the highest rates of mortality and morbidity, which is, uh, serious harm or injury.

Speaker B: Really.

Speaker C: That happens? Yeah, to moms and babies, um, during this critical window of time. And that just seems really paradoxical. Like we've, uh, got, you know, amazing healthcare organizations and research institutes and technology and tools. And it's shouldn't be that way that we spend so much and we're not able to see the best results in the world for that. And so when I started Mommy, I established a mission for the company to make the US the best place in the world to give birth. And um, that became a rallying cry that brought together a lot of really interesting folks that were committed to seeing that mission become a reality. And we all agreed early on that one of the key things that we would have to do is figure out how to connect these disparate pieces of the industry together. That there was a lot of fragmentation, there was a lot of patients spawling through the cracks of the system sort of, as you mentioned, that language is really a great way to visualize the fact that you might be looking for certain kinds of support, mental health support or lactation support. You might want coaching on how to prepare for your labor and delivery experience. And, you know, these things are out there, but are you going to be able to find them in time? Are they going to be cost effective for you? Can you afford them? Will your insurance cover them? Do you have to coordinate everything yourself, or is something going to be available through your doctor's office or your hospital? And so that's what we mean when we say that things are really fragmented. Patients often have to put the pieces together on their own.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: What we set out to do was to create a technology platform that could connect those pieces in one place for families. And so the first version of Mommy was an app. It was pure software to connect together patients and providers and allow for that level of collaboration, communication, and, um, really data transparency. Because if you have all of that information of mom and baby's health and needs, goals in one place, then there's really no excuse for rendering that kind of care. You can't say that, oh, I didn't realize that, you know, the family was looking for that, or I didn't realize she was struggling with that, or that baby wasn't gaining enough weight, or that these complications were coming up. And so we saw this first and foremost as a, as a data challenge. How do we bring together all of these different sources of data to create a single source of truth to ensure that families are getting everything they need in a timely manner? What we learned over time is that we needed to build other layers on top of the business. And I think that that's a classic example of the entrepreneur's journey.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: Right. You sort of stumble into one opportunity, and then through that, through solving that, you stumble into others along the way. And, um, you know, if you're doing it right, you might be on the forefront of actually seeing that opportunity where other people are working on a different part of the issue. And so having confidence in and moving boldly forward toward this new idea, this new solution that builds on what you've done before is really important. It's taking me years to develop that. A lot of times we would see something and say, wait, are we the first to realize that this is a problem? Maybe we're not, but we might be the first to be in a physician to do something about it. And so having that strength and a, uh, vision and confidence in yourself and your team, is really important. We call it making a bold choice. It's one of our core values at Mommy.

Speaker B: I like that. Okay. You just did an excellent job of walking us through that initial founder journey. I love how you emphasize so much. That founding team building around you. People that were passionate, smart, talented, that could help you. And then how you talked about it was initially the app, and then you realized it was going to take you other places and that you're also committed to this vision. I think you described what happens in a startup perfectly. So where are you now in this journey?

Speaker C: Yeah. So we have over 70 million lives under contract with major insurance companies across the country.

Speaker B: Congratulations.

Speaker C: Thank you. So we're very proud of that step, first and foremost, because that means that over 70 million people have an insurance plan, whether it's a commercial plan that they have on the exchange or through an employer or a Medicaid plan that they, that they have through access to care through, um, their state Medicaid, to cover Mommy completely, for them to cover all of those services for doula care, for lactation care, mental health and nutrition, and remote patient monitoring with registered nurses. So all of these services in one place. Individual appointments and group care as well, classes and support groups. The ability to message day and night and get your questions answered across that, uh, maternity journey from the time you find out you're pregnant all the way until you're celebrating your baby's first birthday. It's such an important window time, a vulnerable window. Right. Where people have a lot of questions, a lot of concerns. But what we want to make sure is that more than anything, that as a parent, you feel confident in caring for yourself and your family. And we know that there's a lot to learn and we don't want to sort of send it through a fire hose to you all at the same time.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: We want to build and grow with you across that journey. So it's a very personalized experience that we've built and we've got staff, uh, you know, across the country that do this with us. We also partner with, We've got thousands of different organizations in our network that are physician, uh, practices, hospitals and health systems, community based organizations that are referral partners. They send families to us, they let people know about MOMI being available in their communities. And we also refer back out and make sure that families access all of the different resources and services that are available to them beyond what Mommy has to offer. So it's really important to have that bidirectional referral system, as we call it. To make sure that people are getting all the support they need. I mentioned that, you know, the care is covered by insurance. It's something we're especially proud of. We don't want this to be a luxury or a concierge experience for families. We want this to be something that is widely available and is really cost effective, especially in a time where affordability is something we're all, we're all seeing, we're all concerned with. And having a baby in this country is not cheap. And uh, so if we can help in any way to reduce some of that stress and some of that burden, we're very glad to be up a part of that solution in that way. The other things that are really interesting about where Mommy Is as a technology company is that we've built out a lot of capabilities around that core technology we originally had, which was that longitudinal data set. We have grown over time and serviced so many different families, provided support to so many different organizations and their patient populations. We have a really amazing data set to be able to understand what families need when they need it. And so what we've done is be able to, we've invested in AI, ah, capabilities that allow, allow us to analyze and quickly personalize, turn around that insight on what families need where they are. Everyone is in a different place in their own maternity journey. So having personalized medicine is something that we all strive for. So I'm proud of what we've done in terms of taking that data platform that we built and enhancing the capabilities using AI to create a more personalized experience for families, create more engaging tools for patients and providers to connect. And uh, then finally the payments infrastructure that we have is something that's really unique about the business and something that we've built over time through insurance companies coming to us and saying, we like that you all offer all these different services. We want to make it easy as possible for our members to get access to this. Can we bundle these things together and so that we're paying for them in a value based bundle and we're ensuring that every member gets access to all of these things. So that's a big innovation within maternal healthcare, not having to raise your hand every time and say I need help with this and instead saying, we're here for you throughout this experience and there's a lot of different types of care you can get and you can log in and access what you need when you need it, versus waiting for approval from the insurance company for this or trying to find out is someone going to pay for this. Am I going to have to pay for this out of pocket? Right. It's all there, covered for you at one time.

Speaker B: That's so well thought out. I love that you have this component around insurance payments because let's be honest, in health care, that's a huge thing, the payment factors.

Speaker C: And it can be such a pain, it can be such a, um, like its own whole job just to navigate.

Speaker B: Yeah, covered.

Speaker C: What's not covered. How much are you going to pay for that? When are you going to have to pay for that? What exactly are you going to get? Yeah, we've all been there with our own health care experiences. If we can make it easier for new and expecting parents, then I think that's a win for society for sure.

Speaker B: And then the fact that you're using AI capabilities to personalize it even more, that's great. Do you foresee using more AI technology as you scale?

Speaker C: There are a number of different ways that we can enhance the experience for patients and providers alike using AI. A part of the conversation these days is like, are you going to talk to your doctor or talk to like an AI chatbot to get help? And that's really been maybe two much of the healthcare like the digital health conversation so far in my opinion. Because we really shouldn't be, you know, looking to replace humans in healthcare as the solution for how to make healthcare better. Right. We are much better when we can care for each other as people, when we can give and receive that support. It's rewarding both ways for people to connect with other people. How do we create more opportunities for that to happen? How do we operate businesses more efficiently behind the scenes so that when people, people are getting help from others, it is a high impact experience and it does feel personalized. Those are the questions that we've been asking at Mommy. So rather than, you know, how do we replace your doula with an AI chatbot, we're looking at, well, how do we make sure you get more time with your doula? She wants to spend more time with you too. And you know, there are a lot of parts of healthcare that are administrative, that are bureaucratic, whether it is the payment side, which we have been working very, you know, in a very focused way on making that a better experience for for everyone involved, including the insurance companies. We make it easier for the insurance companies to, to pay for this care, to fund it, to make sure that people are getting access to it. That's been a big area for us and there's a lot of opportunity for AI to support that, but there are other parts of healthcare that again are just administrative. And if we can improve those aspects of the experience, it means that people get more time to connect with each other. So I think that's a big win and that's really what we're focused on as a company.

Speaker B: That is such an excellent point and one that I think we, you mentioned forget about. In this day and age, it's all about like AI efficiencies replace humans, make it more effective. But you're right, if instead the focus is on the administrative, right, Those type of bottlenecks, using AI capabilities there to increase and improve the in person experiences and care, what a great way of looking at it. That makes me more optimistic. So I like your approach. You have it so figured out. You have some incredible investors. Of course, my producer pointed out that you've got Mark Cuban, Serena Williams, Founder of aol, tell us about the fundraising journey because you've done really well there and it's difficult sometimes to get interest in women's health. Let's be honest.

Speaker C: Yes, let's be honest. This has been a labor of love all the way through. We are lucky to have folks that have seen the opportunity, believe in the business, believe in me as a CEO and founder and the entire leadership team that has built this company, um, with me. And that doesn't happen overnight. That takes years and years of commitment. And one of the, another core value of the company is we find a way. We always find a way. And in entrepreneurship, that's really the name of the game, uh, always finding a way, finding a way through the challenges that you're facing, finding a way to address the market, the market's needs, the things your customers are looking for. And as it relates to fundraising, it's especially true. Finding a way through the fundraising journey is, uh, something that requires a lot of fortitude and resilience. Being able to take the rejection, take the nosy, recognize when there is an all out, no, it's not going to happen versus a ah, not right now. And how do you turn that not right now into a yes at a later point in time? I've experienced a lot of those. Early on people said, well, this sounds great, but it also sounds like it's a really big idea and are you going to be able to pull it off? I'd like to see if you can build that snowball, build that momentum, uh, to get to where you're trying to go. And you know, there's always gonna be folks that are looking for someone else to get in. But you know, some of the folks you mentioned are actually the kinds of thought leaders and um, bold risk takers that don't wait for someone else. Right. They say, if I like this, if I believe in this, I see a business opportunity here. I'm gonna be, you know, the first money in. So you wanna find folks like that. It takes a lot of asking around, it takes a lot of requesting introductions. I've pitched, I mean at this point probably several hundred, maybe as many as five, um, hundred to 1,000 different investors, angel investors and angel networks, uh, venture capital funds, um, corporate strategic investors. As you go through the stages of developing a company, right, the profile of the investor changes, but the process is still the same, which is that you've got to build that relationship and demonstrate your competency, your knowledge, your commitment. I've learned along the way you don't have to have all the answers, but you do have to be committed to being at the front of the pack, finding them. And that's what people are ultimately betting on, that if they back you, even if you don't know exactly what's going to happen, you know, in the future or how you're going to get there, that you're going to be the one pushing harder than anyone else to find that solution and be there first, or if you're not going to be there first, be their sort of best, right? Like be there with the best solution so that you can beat the market. In that regard, I think that that's something that is a really important takeaway from all the conversations I've had with investors and the folks who backed this company recognize that healthcare is hard to do. Uh, it's a hard industry to work in. It's not going to produce results and success overnight. So you have to be really committed to the cause and committed to finding the best solution. And the market beating product that is, that is going to get everyone to sit up and say, wow, that, that's very impressive. I want to be involved in what they're doing over there.

Speaker B: Right. You describe the challenges around fundraising really well. You referenced your core value and you referenced them, um, a couple times. I've noticed founders on here that are successful, they tend to really have strong core values in their companies and they really follow them. They're that culture. It's real. It sounds like that's case for mommy as well, like you take your core values seriously.

Speaker C: Yes, yes. And that's something that I've learned from other founders over the years. And uh, so I think that it's something that you can hear about, you can read about early on. But it might seem that those are things that come later for bigger companies that have these, you know, the mission, the vision statement, the core values, these kinds of systems for how people engage with each other. And, you know, HR departments are for corporations, not for little startups. But in fact, the earlier you invest in incorporating these kinds of elements into your business, I think it increases your chances of success because these startups are just groups of people that, uh, are committed to working together to create a new vision of the future, to build something that others around haven't seen yet, can't see yet, maybe aren't even sure is possible. And so you've got a core group of people who, you know, disagree with that, right? Think otherwise, how do you keep them, um, feeling valued, feeling engaged, feeling committed to this? There are some basic things you can do, but often founders might say, well, this is stuff we'll save for later, like drafting the mission statement, drafting the vision statement, which might be different than the mission statement. Like, what we want to see happen is we want the US to be the best place in the world to give birth. That's our mission. What it looks like, once that occurs is our vision, which is that, um, there is equitable access to maternal and infant healthcare. So in order for us, those two things connect together. In order for the US to be the best place in the world to have a baby, we've gotta make sure everyone has access to a really good care experience. So that's kind of how those two things function. And our core values are things that, you're right, we bring them up, we reference them, we live them out. Um, we recognize people for their performance around them. We also identify when people are not living up to those values in their work. And so instead of, you know, trying to criticize someone for the work product itself or their personality, uh, you know, like, there's a better language, a shared language, used to say, hey, I kind of felt like you weren't really showing up today for, uh, for the team. You were checked out in one of the meetings and there might be something else going on in your life right now, and that's why you were in your phone or you were texting. But, like, you know, do you think we can see something different next time? Really, it's important for you to show up. And so we always show up. Is another one of our core values that is also really relevant in maternity, because when you're having a baby, you want your people to show up for you. So you want your mommy doula to actually be there at your birth.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker C: So it kind of has a play on words for us when we say we show up.

Speaker B: I like that. I like how. And also, you're right, it's how you can have conversations with your team. We always wrap up with asking founders to share advice for the other founders. Listening. You've shared a lot. That that's going to be very helpful for everyone listening. But anything else, Parting advice. You want to leave?

Speaker C: Well, let's see. Maybe I've hinted at this throughout in terms of the various twists and turns on the journey that I've been on, but this work is. It is difficult. It really is a struggle, you know, many times over. And it can be lonely because other people don't see all the aspects of the struggle, you know, and we've got a lot of different social media platforms and places where you can put up the shiny news story and talk about all the great things that are happening, but that doesn't mean that there's not other parts that, you know, are challenged. I think that one of the most important things that entrepreneurs can do for each other is just to validate that that is a real part of the experience too. It is happening. We, um, even, you know, with close founder friends, like, we don't always know exactly where each other is in the journey until someone speaks up and says, you know, what I'm going through it right now is what I'm dealing with. And so it is important to where you feel safe and you feel like there's a trusted party to express that to. But also, I think it's equally important just to know that you might not always feel safe to express that. You might feel alone and you might be going through it. And these things are all very real, very normal. And I frankly don't know how else it happens without those moments, too. There are the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur running a startup, and I don't think you can really escape them. So if you're trying to, you're trying to figure out how to smooth the road and make everything perfect, or at least make it look perfect, I'd say you're wasting your time. Accept the struggle.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker C: Right. Uh, accept that the road is going to be bumpy and continue, uh, being committed to the solution that you're trying to bring to the world.

Speaker B: Excellent advice. You wrap that up really well. So where can listeners go to find more about Mommy? I want you to explain the spelling because they need to catch that yes, absolutely.

Speaker C: Well, the company is, uh, the name is spelled M M A H M E E. It's the phonetic spelling of

Speaker B: L O M, um, M Y.

Speaker C: So you can go to our website, M A H M e dash e dot com. Especially if you are a new or expecting parent or you know someone who is, please direct them there or please go there yourself, check your eligibility, find out what your insurance plan will cover and what services are available to you and get access today. Just start getting the support you need and if you know someone else who, who could use some help, please, uh, refer them, uh, and so that they can also in terms of investors and uh, organizations that we could be partnering with, we're always open to having conversations with folks in large healthcare organizations that are looking to partner with us and plug and play what we do here. Really plug it in and make it available to their communities. They can reach out to me directly. Uh, my email is melissamame.com that's M E L I-S A mommy dot com. Yeah, I mean, I'll route you to the right person on the team, but I always like to make myself available and say we're not some, uh, big behemoth here that you can't get ahold of. Send me an email. Would love to connect with anyone who's listening in and thinks this is interesting.

Speaker B: That's great. Thank you so much, Melissa. I know you're super busy, but it was really great having you here and learning more about mommy. What an incredible story and amazing what you've done already.

Speaker C: Thank you so much. Appreciate being on and, uh, honored to be included in this roster of, uh, entrepreneurs that you spoken with.

Speaker B: Oh, thank you, thank you.

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