Cayaba Care, a maternal health company offering community-based clinical services via technology-enabled multidisciplinary care teams, launched today and announced the closing of $3.2 million in seed capital. Cayaba Care’s technology-enabled, community-based care model addresses current gaps in maternity care for women experiencing social and health inequities.

Cayaba Care is building partnerships with obstetric practices that focus on extending care beyond the practice walls, providing home and near-home clinical and behavioral health services, coordinating care, and addressing social determinants of health. By utilizing technology, Cayaba Care can improve access for patients, identify timely interventions, and improve overall health outcomes.

"The current obstetric practice provides exceptional care to patients who are able to make it into the office. However, for a variety of reasons patients may miss appointments," said Dr. David Jaspan, Chair Department of Obstetrics at Einstein Health Network. "To impact quality, we need a solution that extends past the walls of the practice and reaches beyond traditional obstetrical care. We are excited to partner with Cayaba Care. Together we will collaborate with our patients and their families to address specific social needs that have traditionally been overlooked and thereby we will create lasting solutions rather than episodic interactions.”

As part of a sweeping action plan in response to the tragic rate of maternal deaths, on December 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced its intention to reduce maternal mortality by 50% by 2025.1 Recent statistics reveal extraordinary inequities, with Black and Hispanic women facing three to four times the rate of pregnancy-related morbidity and mortality.2 In Philadelphia, where Cayaba Care's has launched, Black women accounted for 43% of all births but suffered 73% of all maternal deaths that same year. Similar disparities occur in other communities with preterm births and infant mortality rates.3

"COVID showed the value of telemedicine in prenatal care, which is here to stay. Unfortunately, many underserved patient populations who could most benefit from the convenience of telemedicine or home visits lack broadband access or a provider who can easily provide those services. We need solutions to improve outcomes by bringing technology to these communities and meeting people where they are,” commented Dr. Colleen Denny, Medical Director, Ambulatory Women's Health Services at Bellevue Hospital.

"Moms and babies are at the centers of many communities. At Cayaba Care, we believe moms deserve to be heard, and we are focused on designing empathetic solutions specifically rooted in the patient voice and bringing high-quality care that fits into their complicated lives," said Olan Soremekun, CEO and co-founder of Cayaba Care. This funding comes at a time when maternity and newborn outcomes in the U.S. are among the worst among developed countries, and the U.S. is the only developed country with worsening trends.

Cayaba Care was founded to improve outcomes in communities by reimagining how maternity and pediatric care is delivered. Before founding Cayaba Care, Dr. Olan Soremekun held leadership roles at Cigna, supporting physician groups' adoption of value-based payment models. In addition, he has held physician leadership roles leading clinical operations and service-line expansion. Dr. Fleming, a board-certified OB-GYN, has practiced in various settings after completing the Minority Health Policy Fellowship at Harvard University, residency at Meharry University, and medical school at Vanderbilt University, and serving as a Senior Clinical Advisor designing clinical programs targeting the underserved population. Kit Dobyns, a Rhodes Scholar and co-founder of TrialSpark, rounds up the founding team and will drive the development and adoption of important new technologies to innovate maternity care delivery to improve outcomes in underserved populations.

"Addressing inequity in healthcare and improving access to high-quality care for historically underserved populations is one of Flare Capital's core values," said Michael Greeley, Co-founder and General Partner at Flare Capital Partners. "A number of our strategic Limited Partners, including many of the largest payers and providers in the nation, have identified this acute market need and are committed to partnering with mission-driven entrepreneurs like Olan, Mary, and Kit to drive lasting changes."

Learn more https://www.cayabacare.com/

About Cayaba Care

Cayaba Care is a maternal health company offering community-based clinical services via technology-enabled multidisciplinary care teams. Cayaba Care provides care coordination, benefit sign-up, routine maternity care in the prenatal and postpartum period, mental health/counseling, breastfeeding support, and patient education. For more information about Cayaba Care, visit https://www.cayabacare.com.

About Flare Capital Partners

Flare Capital Partners strives to help build significant healthcare technology, digital health and healthcare services companies to improve health outcomes and broaden access while lowering costs of care. We partner with inspirational entrepreneurs who seek to transform the business of healthcare by developing innovative and impactful products and services. Flare Capital is a team of proven healthcare technology investors and senior operating executives known for thought leadership and unparalleled strategic industry resources. Our firm has raised some of the industry’s largest dedicated venture capital funds focused on early-stage opportunities in healthcare technology innovation, and our investors include leading healthcare companies, major institutional investors, important family offices, foundations and sovereign wealth funds. We are full life-cycle investors in our portfolio companies as we support and work alongside entrepreneurs over their entire company-building journey. Select portfolio companies include Aetion, Aspen RxHealth, Bright Heath, Cohere Health, Eden Health, HealthVerity, Iora Health, Somatus, Tausight and VisitPay. Learn more at Flare Capital Partners and follow us on Twitter @flarecapital.

1 HHS Initiative to Improve Maternal Health | ASPE. Maternal Health Action Plan.
2 Howell EA. Reducing Disparities in Severe Maternal Morbidity and Mortality. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2018 Jun;61(2):387-399. doi: 10.1097/GRF.0000000000000349. PMID: 29346121; PMCID: PMC5915910.
3 Maternal Mortality Report Finds Non-Hispanic Black Women Represent 73% of Pregnancy-Related Deaths in Philadelphia. March 23, 2021, by Board of Health and Department of Public Health