She Matters
Techstars '21New York City, US Β· 6 known investors
The She Matters Alliance collects insights from pregnant and postpartum mothers to improve maternal health outcomes through partnerships with hospitals and healthcare organizations. The organization focuses on advancing equitable, compassionate maternal care across the perinatal period.
Also known as She Matters Alliance Β· She Matters Inc. Β· SheMatters Β· WeMatter
Investors Β· 6
Also in the syndicate Β· 2
Company profile
researched Aug 2026She Matters is a New York-based digital health company focused on postpartum health for Black women and other women of color. Its platform and mobile app are designed to support users experiencing postpartum comorbidities β including postpartum anxiety and depression as well as physical conditions such as preeclampsia and hemorrhaging β by connecting them with community, culturally relevant resources and culturally competent health care professionals, and by helping them build and track healthy habits. Members can access an online community, events, culturally competent resources and certified therapists.
Alongside the consumer-facing app, the company sells cultural competency training and certification to hospitals, healthcare networks and independent practitioners. Under the She Matters Alliance banner, the organization describes work to transform maternal health through innovation, research and collaboration, collecting insights from perinatal, pregnant and postpartum mothers and partnering with hospitals and healthcare organizations to improve maternal health outcomes across the period before, during and after childbirth.
The company announced plans to rebrand as WeMatter and to extend its model to additional groups, with products described as "Ella Importa" for Latina women, "Native Her" for Native American women and "They Matter" for the LGBTQ community, supported by researchers and cultural experts hired for each group.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Jade Kearney began the venture after experiencing postpartum anxiety and depression following the birth of her first daughter and finding few culturally competent resources or community. She Matters originated as her thesis project at NYU Steinhardt, where she built a social media app connecting Black mothers with culturally competent therapists, initially funding therapy through the sale of women's wellness subscription boxes. Kearney holds degrees from NYU Steinhardt (Digital Media Design for Learning), Georgetown University (Intercultural/Multicultural and Diversity Studies) and Montclair State University (Elementary Education and Teaching), with a professional background in education, diversity and inclusion, and talent development.
Business model
Hospitals and healthcare networks buy a subscription to the platform and provide patients with access as part of their care package; the company also sells cultural competency training and certification to healthcare networks and independent practitioners. Patients using participating providers access the app for free, and the company states it does not charge Black mothers for therapy.
Subscription and training/certification contracts with hospitals and healthcare networks rather than consumer fees; average hospital contract was stated at approximately $1.2 million. An earlier women's wellness subscription box line, used to fund therapy costs for users, was discontinued during the Techstars program.
Traction
Reported six employees as of August 2022 with plans to reach 15 by year end; average hospital contract value stated at about $1.2 million; partnerships with healthcare systems following the pivot to network-level training.
Latest developments
In August 2022 the company announced over $1.5 million in funding from investors including Oxeon Ventures, Chingona Ventures, The Fund, Emmeline Ventures, New York University and Techstars, appointed Alexander Packard as board chair and Eric Ries as a board member, and announced a planned rebrand to WeMatter with new products for additional marginalized groups. The She Matters Alliance site presents ongoing work collecting insights from perinatal, pregnant and postpartum mothers in partnership with hospitals and healthcare organizations.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Positioned around culturally competent care for Black maternal health, addressing postpartum mental illness alongside physical comorbidities such as preeclampsia and hemorrhaging. The founder has stated a goal of reaching 80% of hospitals within three years.
Combines a consumer community app with cultural competency certification for providers, sold as network-wide contracts to hospitals rather than as individual therapist training, and provides therapy access to Black mothers at no cost to them.
Technology
An online platform and mobile app for tracking healthy habits, community participation, events, and access to culturally competent resources and certified therapists, paired with a cultural competency training and certification program for healthcare practitioners.
Go-to-market
Enterprise sales to hospitals and healthcare systems, which purchase subscriptions and cultural competency training for their networks and extend app access to patients; the company also runs Black Girl's Tech Day, a conference series for women of color that began in New York in 2021 and expanded to Pretoria, South Africa in July 2022, with planned dates in Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Black women and women of color experiencing postpartum comorbidities are the end users; paying customers are hospitals, healthcare networks and independent healthcare practitioners. Planned expansion targets Latina, Native American and LGBTQ populations, and further certifications for Asian American, Indigenous and Hispanic women, Trans people and marginalized heterosexual men.
Geography
Headquartered in New York City and focused on the United States; its Black Girl's Tech Day conference series has run in New York and Pretoria, South Africa.
History
The platform grew out of Jade Kearney's NYU Steinhardt thesis project, completed before her 2020 graduation. She participated in the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute's Startup Accelerator Series and Summer Launchpad, joined the inaugural Female Founders Fellowship cohort, received a loan alleviation grant and the title of Mark & Debra Leslie Fellow, and later served as a Founder in Residence. In November 2021 the company entered the Techstars Seattle Accelerator, during which it dropped subscription box sales and pivoted from training individual therapists to training healthcare networks and independent practitioners on postpartum comorbidities. In August 2022 it announced over $1.5 million in funding, added Alexander Packard as board chair and Eric Ries as a board member, and disclosed plans to rebrand as WeMatter.
Risks & controversies
The founder has described difficulty raising capital as a Black woman building for Black women and other underrepresented groups, and stated there are no Black venture capitalists on the cap table. She has also cited resistance from hospitals in converting stated diversity commitments into funded programs, requiring the company to make a business case for culturally competent care.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Timeline Β· 5
launches, deals, and filingsSheMatters announced the close of over $1.5 million in funding, and named Alexander Packard, President at Iora Health, as Board Chair and Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, as a board member. TechCrunch described the round as a $1.5 million pre-seed investment; the company's press release described it as seed funding.
$1.5M source β
Alexander Packard, President at Iora Health, was named Board Chair, and Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, joined as a board member.
The company stated it would change its name from SheMatters to WeMatter and, over the following two years, offer cultural competency certifications for Asian American women, Indigenous women, Hispanic women, LGBTQI+, Trans and marginalized heterosexual men.
Black Girl's Tech Day, a conference series for women of color presented by SheMatters, launched in New York in 2021 and expanded to Pretoria, South Africa in July 2022, with additional dates to be announced in Atlanta and Los Angeles.
Founder Jade Kearney was accepted into the Techstars Seattle Accelerator program in November 2021; during the program the company discontinued its wellness subscription box e-commerce line and shifted to cultural competency training for healthcare practitioners and networks.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- She Mattersshematters.health Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does She Matters do?
- Maternal health platform providing culturally competent postpartum support and provider training, partnering with hospitals.
- Who are She Matters's investors?
- She Matters's investors include Emmeline Ventures, NYU Innovation Venture Fund, Techstars, The Fund.
- Where is She Matters headquartered?
- She Matters is headquartered in New York City, US.