There are some mega-trends playing out across developed-world workforces that startups are picking up on. There’s the digitisation of healthcare, the ‘platforming’ of employee services, and the macro effects of older employees, combined with the cost of living crisis for new parents.
Founded in London in 2018, Peppy offer services around menopause, fertility, pregnancy and early parenthood to a corporate customer base, which then offers it for free to employees. The twist is that those services are largely individualised, with personal video consultations and the like.
Peppy was partly lucky and part prescient: the massive digitisation that occurred during the COVID-19 Pandemic threw employee services like this online, by necessity.
Employees using Peppy can access experts via a mobile app, with instant messaging, group chat, video consultations, live events, articles, videos and programs, as well as join communities.
Back in 2021 we covered how it had raised a $10M Series A led round by Felix Capital.
It’s now secured funding to expand in the US, with a $45m Series B led by AlbionVC. The round was joined by Kathaka, MTech Capital, Simplyhealth and Sony Innovation Fund. Previous investors Felix Capital, Hambro Perks, Outward VC and Seedcamp also participated.
Peppy started out addressing the oft-ignored issue of menopause support as an employee benefit. This was a fairly untapped area, which led it to gaining a lot of growth quite quickly (the global menopause market reached a valuation of $15.4bn, and is expected to continue growing at five percent annually through 2030, according to some estimates). In the US, around 6,000 women reach menopause every day.
Peppy now supports endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), conditions that each affect roughly one in 10 women in the US.
Dr Mridula Pore, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Peppy, said in a statement: “We’re on a mission to become a household name across the world and our Series B funding is just the start. We already dominate Europe’s employer-funded gender-based healthcare market.”
Peppy clients now include Accenture, Adobe, Canada Life, Disney, and Marsh McLennan.