The process of cervical cancer screening can be quite scary. It's an annual, sometimes life-changing treatment that involves bright lights in a doctor's office and uncomfortable insertions that always seem to last too long.

It's no wonder that Kara Egan and Dr. Avnesh Thakor saw the potential in making this procedure more comfortable for women. The two joined forces in 2020 to found Teal Heath, a shared women's health resource company dedicated to developing products that allow women to perform cervical cancer screening at home. It will be the first of its kind and is awaiting FDA approval.

The company emerged from stealth mode in January 2023 and began clinical trials in November of that year.

Investors seem to like the idea. Today, Teal Health announced a $10 million seed-stage expansion project led by Emerson Collective and Forerunner, bringing its total funding to $23 million. Other investors in the round include Serena Ventures and Chelsea Clinton.

"Cervical cancer screening is the most important and often the entry point into a woman's health relationship," co-founder and CEO Egan told TechCrunch. "More than one in four women currently fail to complete this life-saving screening."

Pending FDA approval, Teal Health will launch the Teal Wand for home use. A person will be able to request a home collection kit, and the company will provide telemedicine visits. Once a person receives the kit, they will use a Teal wand to collect a vaginal sample, seal the sample, and ship it to a Teal-approved laboratory. . “We offer teal support to make sure we answer any questions you have along the way,” Egan said.

Cervical cancer used to be one of the most common causes of cancer death in women, although more prevention and screening have helped reduce it, according to the American Cancer Society. These declines have leveled off over the past few years, as more women are believed to be skipping prevention and screening measures.

"Women want to stay up late for health checks, but they need to keep a balance," Egan said. This gap in the market couldn’t come at a better time—interest in supporting women’s health companies is increasing year by year.

In fact, Egan calls her fundraising process "energetic." She met key investors through her professional network, especially since she was a former investor herself.

Teal Health will use the new funding to support the launch of its Teal Wand.

"This funding will help us further enhance our robust telemedicine platform, patient portal, educational resources and customer support tools and continue to grow our team of outstanding healthcare providers," Egan said. "We are focused on expanding our programs across the U.S. "

There are many women's health companies in the area, but not necessarily looking to offer at-home devices to treat cervical cancer. Teal's main competitors are standard obstetrics and gynecology products, but the company hopes offering a comfortable alternative - meaning no need to make an appointment and see a clinician in person - will attract more customers to the product.

"Standard of care is no longer working for women, and we're seeing this through declining screening rates and rising cancer rates," Egan said. "By making this important preventive screening more accessible, comfortable and convenient, we Ability to increase screening rates and work to eliminate cervical cancer in the United States"