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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