US-based virtual maternity care provider Pomelo Care has secured $46m in a Series B funding round, with the aim to address the maternal health crisis in the nation.

Current investors First Round Capital and Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health led the fundraiser.

Stripes and existing investors Operator Partners, SV Angel, and BoxGroup also contributed to the round, in addition to angel investors, namely Rubicon Founders founder and managing partner Adam Boehler and CareBridge CEO Puneet Singh. 

The recent investment brings Pomelo Care's total funding to $79m.

Pomelo Care will use the funding to expedite partnerships with payors across the nation.

The company collaborates with commercial and Medicaid health plans, as well as employers, to offer virtual fertility, postpartum, and infant care services.

Its services aim to confront the alarming statistics in the US, where one in ten babies are admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit at birth. The company also points out that the US has higher maternal morbidity and mortality rates than peer countries, with the situation being particularly severe for people of colour.

 The company further highlights that one in eight births in the US occur in counties with limited or no access to maternal care. In addition, approximately half of the pregnancy-related deaths in the US are post-hospital discharge, highlighting significant gaps in postpartum care.

 Pomelo Care claims that its care model addresses these hurdles by using claims and health record data to proactively identify individual risk factors and provide evidence-based care.

Pomelo Care Founder and CEO Marta Bralic Kerns stated, "We’ve long known what works to reduce maternal and infant complications. The questions have always been: can you identify the patients who are at highest risk, can you deeply engage them in care to drive uptake of the prevention strategies we know work, and can you do it in the highest risk populations with the most limited access to care? This data demonstrates that we absolutely can. And with this additional funding, we’ll have the opportunity to scale our care model to more pregnant people across the country."

Since the start of 2024, Pomelo Care has expanded its coverage with health plan partners from two million to over three million lives, serving patients in 46 states.