Dutch menopause platform Vi secures funding from NN Group
Dutch menopause platform Vi secures funding from NN Group
Vi supports working women to manage their symptoms, find information and connect to qualified experts.
There are 1.8m working women in the Netherlands - and up to 90% say they don’t know where to go for support.
In the workplace, it’s estimated just 2% of employers in The Netherlands have menopause policies in place.
This was the opportunity identified by Rotterdam-based start-up Vi (https://www.vihealth.nl/) which has built an app to connect women in the workplace with symptom information and to qualified experts.
Founder Marleen ten Damme said:
‘Tackling the menopause taboo is our starting point for Vi. We’re really happy that conversations about menopause have developed over the course of the last year. It’s time to support women and employers with the right services to bring this change to action.
We aim to bring understanding and awareness about this phase through personalised and data-driven insights. Every woman experiences the menopause in her own unique way. That's why our services are designed so that each woman can examine her own situation and receive advice that truly suits her.’
Investment from NN Group
Vi was launched in August 2023 for its first pilot users and is now an independent entity, available for employers and their employees as of January 2024.
The platform has been created by NN Ventures, the corporate venture builder of NN Group. Their aim is to create new business models that are independent but complementary to existing products, mostly in the life insurance and pensions space. NN will take a minority stake in Vi as co-founder.
Marleen said:
We're extremely proud that we have managed to find NN Group as our partner. This wasn't an easy trajectory as a large financial services company (pensions, banking, insurance). We're proud NN Group supports us in on our mission and that Vi is well positioned to support NN customers (both companies and individuals) with the Vi Health services.
The investment amount has been undisclosed, but is understood to be sized at seed-investment level.
The journey to Vi
As founder and creator, Marleen ten Damme worked to bridge the gap with the Vi platform between tech, data and preventative health. Although Vi is new, Marleen’s journey began many years earlier.
Marleen said:
“This all started with my 14+ year journey on getting diagnosed with another female specific condition: endometriosis myself. Our platform, however menopause as starting point, focuses on women’s health & their lives after 40y/o including mental, physical, social and work influences.
Tackling taboos
In the Netherlands, common to many countries, menopause has traditionally been seen as a private matter or a ‘women’s issue’. There is little mandatory medical training and is not discussed openly in society or the workplace. This has resulted in a lack of knowledge and awareness about the physical and emotional changes that women experience during this natural stage in life.
Vi aims to support women to access proper care, which in turn can reduce the potential impact on their life and career. The platform enables women to monitor and track their physical and emotional symptoms. It also offers workshops for employers and employees, coaching, as well as access to medical specialists.
Looking to the future Marleen said:
“At Vi we strongly believe in women being in charge of their own bodies by understanding their bodies better. We're on a mission to bring responsibility in the hands of women and employers, to make a change. We're the platform focused on taking action and not on awaiting others to do so for us.”