Vira Health

UK-based Vira Health is a specialized telemedicine company that offers treatment and lifestyle suggestions to help women deal with symptoms of menopause. Its downloadable Stella app can help users control symptoms such as hot flushes and night sweats, bladder problems, difficulty sleeping, menopause-related weight gain, mood changes, anxiety, sex issues, and other symptoms. Users are offered a tailor-made 12-week treatment plan via the app to ease symptoms through cognitive behavioral therapy, pelvic floor exercises, diet, and lifestyle changes. Treatments adhere to National Health Service (NHS) guidelines and come with an assigned coach who helps users to be involved in their treatment plans by setting goals, staying motivated, and adhering to treatment schedules.

The company operates on a D2C and B2B2C basis, where employers can sign up with the company to offer Stella to their employees. The app operates on a freemium model and is currently available only in the UK and only on the App Store for individuals. For employers, the company can integrate Stella into their employee benefits and have full access to all of the platform’s features for a fee that is dependent on the scale of the contracting company.

In November 2022, the company acquired fellow menopause treatment prescriber Alva for an undisclosed sum. This acquisition enabled Vira Health to launch a fully-regulated online menopause clinic that can prescribe hormonal therapies and non-hormonal alternatives, in addition to its current services.

Funding and financials

The latest funding round for the company was in March 2022, where the company raised USD 12 million in Series A financing, led by Octopus Ventures, to boost its app’s functionality by including a telehealth component through which virtual consultations can be arranged and medication can be prescribed. These added features were meant to supplement the existing virtual coaching sessions and symptom tracker currently available on the app.