by Stacy Jackson
February 20, 2024
Medical schools and hospitals nationally, including University of South Carolina, are already adopting the program.
Digital health platform SheMatters, designed to improve maternal mortality in minority communities, has raised $2 million to launch SheMatters’ Symptom Tracker app and expand its Cultural Competence Certification program for providers.
According to a press release, The Symptom Tracker provides expecting and new moms a way to track blood pressure and monitor vital signs and symptoms related to serious complications like preeclampsia, eclampsia, and HELLP (Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets)
syndrome.
“In 2024, SheMatters will grow our team and build out our product offering with our symptom tracker leading the way to create real change for Black mothers,” Founder Jade Kearney shared. This aims to close racial disparities, as Black women face triple the maternal mortality rates versus white women.
“The company’s product offering includes the SheMatters Cultural Competence Certification Program designed to reduce Black maternal morbidity by bridging the gap in communication between patient and provider.”
The program trains medical providers to communicate with and understand Black patients amid systemic inequality. Major universities and hospital systems are adopting the training, helping providers better serve minority communities.
SheMatters strives to improve outcomes with culturally-informed technology and education. Created by Kearney, Co-Founder Marguerite Pierce, and experts, the certification focuses on safety, communication, and confronting racism’s legacy in healthcare. “I am so proud to be among this select group of leaders and plan to open doors to other women of color looking to make a difference.” In 2023, Kearney told BLACK ENTERPRISE that she and Pierce are the “only fem tech startup that holds providers accountable for their cultural competency to decrease Black maternal mortality.”
As a Black female founder, raising capital has been “the biggest challenge and greatest success of my career,” Kearney said in the press release. According to a report by DigitalUndivided’s ProjectDiane, there was little progress in venture capital raised by Black women founders before 2021, with only 93 Black women founders raising $1 million or more in total prior to that year. Slow advancement was shown in 2021, with 71 Black female founders succeeding in raising $1 million or more.
This latest investment for SheMatters brings the company’s total raised to $3.5 million. Backers include the American Heart Association, The Fund, and The Social Entrepreneurs Fund.
