Kate Ryder
Victor Llorente

Kate Ryder was ahead of her time when, in 2014, she founded Maven Clinic. She weathered dozens of rejections from investors who didn’t understand the need for a 24/7, on-demand, comprehensive reproductive health care platform. But Kate plowed ahead, fueled by her certainty that women’s health care wasn’t a niche market. Her truly pioneering move was to start working with businesses, including Bumble, allowing companies to support employees’ seeking access to a whole spectrum of reproductive-health and family-planning services. What could be more critical for businesses right now, with the health care rights of half their workforces under siege? Kate’s foresight has also had a monumental knock-on effect: thanks to Maven’s care, more women are able to succeed at work. Today, Maven is valued at over $1 billion—the only U.S. company focused on women’s health care to reach this milestone. Am I surprised at its ascent? Not at all. It just took a while for the market to catch up with Kate Ryder.


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Wolfe Herd is founder and CEO of Bumble

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