Perelel, a womenโs health company, has acquired LOOM, a Black-led FemTech company, for an undisclosed amount.
LOOMโs founder, Erica Chidi, will join Perelel as a strategic advisor as part of the acquisition.
Chidi said: โ I am proud to join Perelel as a strategic advisor and combine our power to amplify our shared mission of supporting women of all stages throughout their hormonal lifespan.โ
Alex Taylor, Perelelโs co-CEO and Co-Founder, stated, โLOOMโs platform offers comprehensive support across a range of essential topics, including menstrual health, sexual wellness, pregnancy, and postpartum careโall of which Perelel stands for.โ
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Meet Loom, the FemTech Educational Health Platform
LOOM was launched in 2017 as an in-person experience offering women educational content about reproductive and sexual health education. It was later expanded into an online subscription digital platform, providing courses, content and community support to women.
The FemTech platform provides health resources to women and non-binary individuals, covering topics from menstrual health to menopause. It also offers stage-specific guidance and personalized support.
It raised $6.5 million from investors like Slow Ventures and Founders Fund and celebrities such as actress Tessa Thompson and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow.ย
โI was, like, the 34th Black woman to raise over a million dollars in venture capital,โ Chidi told TechCrunch, adding that she didnโt expect she would raise the nearly $3 million in three months back in late 2019.ย
More About Perelel, the Womenโs Health Company
Founded in 2020 by Victoria Thain Gioia and Alex Taylor, alongside Medical Co-Founder Dr. Banafsheh Bayati, Perelel offers targeted nutrition for different stages of a womanโs hormonal journey. The company grew in response to a perceived need for more precise approaches to hormonal care, particularly in prenatal nutrition.
According to the company, Perelel has expanded its product portfolio by 50% and sold 48 million capsules in the past year. It has reported 120+% year-over-year growth since its inception. Perelel recently secured a $6 million Series A financing round led by Unilever.
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Victoria Thain Gioia, Perelelโs Co-CEO and Co-Founder, added: โTogether, we are expanding and normalizing conversations around reproductive and sexual health, providing evidence-based information, and creating a supportive community for women to explore and understand their bodies and choices.โ
This acquisition combines Perelelโs medically-backed approach with LOOMโs community-driven educational platform. Perelel said its next steps are โthe broader goal of supporting women and womenโs health.โ
The Evolving Landscape of FemTech
The issue of womenโs health has been under the spotlight over the past few years, especially since the Supreme Court struck down national access to abortion in the US.
Gioia, co-CEO with Taylor, recalls during Perelelโs pre-launch, when investors asked them how big the womenโs health market was for fertility, pregnancy and postpartum, believing it was a small opportunity for revenue. โThe positive of today is that, at least from the investor community, they realize that womenโs health is a very small opportunity for all of us to solve,โ she told TechCrunch.
These numbers show some healthy growth, but in recent years, all companies โ unless theyโre AI โ have seen some difficulty in the funding environment. According to the Silicon Valley Bank 2023 report, the flow of venture dollars to womenโs health companies increased 314% since 2018, compared to a 28% increase for the health sector.ย
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Billions are flowing into the industry: Deloitte found that 2% of venture dollars into the health sector went to womenโs health companies, hitting $41.2 billion in 2023.
