Materna Medical has raised $5m, setting the femtech company up with funds to advance clinical and commercial activities for its line of obstetrical and other women’s health devices.
The California-based company’s B3 financing round was led by InnovaHealth Partners, Wavemaker360 Health, and Band of Angels, with continued support from existing investors.
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Materna intends to use the proceeds to support the clinical development of its Ellora system, which is designed to reduce pelvic floor muscle injury during vaginal delivery in first-time mothers.
Ellora is currently being evaluated in the EASE pivotal trial (NCT03973281), with the latest fundraise set to support the study’s readout. The company announced completion of trial enrolment in July 2025, with 420 first-time mothers participating in the study. Data from EASE will support a regulatory filing of Ellora with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Materna said it would also use the proceeds to expand access to Milli, the company’s vaginal dilator for vaginismus treatment that received FDA clearance in 2023.
Tracy MacNeal, Materna Medical CEO, commented: “We are thrilled to be entering this next phase as we prepare for the Ellora launch, bringing an important innovation to women’s health.”
The current state of women’s health
The women’s health space has previously been declared to be a ‘one trillion dollar’ investment opportunity, yet startups developing innovations in the field continue to be hamstrung by limited financing opportunities. According to observers, misconceptions among traditional investors are the primary sticking points, among others, towards raising sufficient capital. The field has previously been called “too niche, too complex, and too risky” by experts interviewed by Medical Device Network.
Beyond investment, more than eight in 10 women say there have been times when healthcare professionals did not listen to them, according to a recent report issued by the UK’s Labour government. In April 2026, Wes Streeting, former secretary of state for health and social care, released the ‘Renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England’. The policy paper outlined aims to combat what it describes as the UK National Health Service’s (NHS) problem with “basic, everyday sexism” and an “appalling culture of medical misogyny”.
Part of these aims resonate with the UK government’s 10-year plan for the NHS. According to Baroness Merron, parliamentary under-Secretary of State for Women’s Health and Mental Health, the plan’s shifting focus from sickness to prevention is just one factor that will help “narrow the gap” in many health risks and inequalities women in the UK face, such as in heart disease, obesity rates, and levels of smoking and drinking.
