Wellbeing of Women and Maroon Venture Fund are delighted to announce AstraWell, a multi-year partnership to deliver material advances in womens health under which several initiatives will be launched to:

• accelerate innovation, venture development and product solutions in Women’s Health steered by clinical excellence
• accelerate deployment of catalytic capital to fund Women’s Health innovation
• increase and strengthen AstraWell’s research and development (R&D) innovation consortiums, commercial venture platforms, collaborations, and scaling opportunities in Women’s Health in the UK, between the UK and United States, and eventually globally

The time is “now” to move beyond generic healthcare and generic clinical trials, increase standards in preventative, personalised and public health; and address chronic health conditions for 50% of our population that women are at higher risk for (including diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, certain neurological disorders) – this is not niche – it’s fundamental and good economic sense. Women’s Health will be a $1 trillion opportunity in the US by 2040, yet today still represents only 4% healthcare R&D investments. In the United Kingdom, despite living for longer, women spend more time living in poor health than men. Research into diagnosis, treatment and preventative care is underfunded; in the UK only 2.4% of public research funding goes to women’s gynaecological health and childbirth.

Janet Lindsay, Chief Executive of Wellbeing of Women: “We are delighted to announce this partnership with Maroon Venture Fund. By supporting exciting new ventures in women’s health, we can nurture great ideas and tackle some of the most pressing issues facing women today, from heavy menstrual bleeding to premature birth, gynaecological cancers and beyond. This is the first time we are offering our unrivalled expertise in women’s health to companies working to innovate in this space, and we hope that doing so will help drive forward initiatives to help all women.”

Lisa Lambie, Managing Partner of Maroon Venture Fund: “Through this exciting partnership with Wellbeing of Women, Maroon looks forward to materially advancing critical research and innovation in Womens Health; execute this robust scaling catalyst to accelerate commercial launches to market in the US and UK; and tackle some of the most pressing issues in comprehensive Womens Health today, including beyond reproductive and sexual health. The most effective health advances do not occur in silos, but are fostered from collaboration across geographies and by “best-in-class” partnerships reflecting deep expertise. Maroon is focused on advancing innovation addressing key chronic conditions for population health (including diabetes, other autoimmune diseases, certain cancers, cardiovascular, inflammation, environmental allergies, neurological disorders, brain health). These areas also represent health conditions that disproportionately impact women.”

AstraWell Venture Studio

The first initiative under AstraWell, is the launch of AstraWell Venture Studio to support the venture development and successful commercial scaling of early-stage ventures addressing chronic Health and Climate conditions disproportionately impacting Women’s Health.

The Venture Studio will significantly position ventures by:

• Advancing research and innovation with the UK’s largest and only dedicated institution for Women’s Health, supported by extensive AstraWell partnerships with UK and US medical and healthcare operators, academic innovators, and corporates
• Leveraging AstraWell expertise in financial structuring, AI, data analytics, impact delivery, GTM strategy, and investor readiness for global markets
• Positioning ventures for scaling into the US / UK markets through AstraWell’s local presence and operations
• Expanding grant funding opportunities
• Accessing providers of catalytic investment capital targeting above-market commercial returns

AstraWell Venture Studio is a hybrid platform - primarily virtual, also offering optional on-site engagement and sessions in New York, Boston, Houston, Glasgow, and London, UK.

Venture Studio – 2024 Application Deadlines and Information Sessions

Venture Applicants

Ventures interested in applying to AstraWell Venture Studio are invited to complete the applicant questionnaire and also attend the Information Session on Monday 15 July at 4pm by RSVP HERE and thereafter apply for the:

• Summer Cohort commencing 25 July, or
• Fall Cohort commencing 16 September

If unable to attend the July Information Session, ventures who have completed the application questionnaire will be invited to future Information Sessions.

Potential Partner Opportunity

Please RSVP HERE for our Partners Webinars on Monday 15 July at 3pm if you are not a venture, but are interested in collaborating with AstraWell as a Strategic Partner or Investor Partner.

Venture Studio – Application Eligibility Criteria

1. UK or US-domiciled Pre-Seed or Seed growth stage
2. Venture patient-centric innovation and commercial potential
3. Experienced venture team
4. Eligible Health Area:

• Reproductive or Gynaecological Health ~ including cancer (breast, cervical, ovarian)
• Chronic Population Health Condition that disproportionately impacts women ~ including diabetes; other autoimmune diseases; blood and cardiovascular conditions (incl. heart disease); food and environmental allergies; neurological, brain and mental health
• Diversification of Clinical Trials supporting advanced science and innovation in 1 of Women’s Health areas above
• Healthy Ageing & Longevity generally, or in connection with 1 of Women’s Health areas above
• Climate Area which has clear, measurable impact on Women’s Health ~ specifically within Blue Economy or Built Environment