The Wharton-Penn Medicine Fund for Health, a venture between Philadelphia-based Penn Medicine and the Wharton Environmental, Social and Governance Initiative, invested in Twentyeight Health, a digital health startup aiming to improve the reproductive health of women from underserved communities.
Twentyeight Health provides an online platform and connection with clinicians to facilitate the prescription of reproductive healthcare, ranging from birth control to prenatal vitamins, according to a Feb. 13 Penn Medicine news release.
The company is the seventh startup to receive backing from the Penn Medicine fund since it began in 2021.
In June 2022, Josh Harris, managing partner of the Philadelphia 76ers, announced that he would invest an additional $1 million in companies selected by the fund.
"It's paramount that we address inequity in women's and reproductive health with creative strategies, including through tools patients can use to get crucial information and access to care from their own homes, on their own time," Elizabeth Howell, MD, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at Penn Medicine, said in the release. "Twentyeight Health's approach provides women with reliable access to resources, autonomy, and convenience, all of which are crucial to helping women maintain their best health throughout their lives."