Tera leads investment into CARÁ Health

CARÁ Health, an all-encompassing health and wellness resource that provides women with support and guidance throughout the maternity journey, from pregnancy to postpartum, has closed €620k in funding.

The round was led by Tera Ventures, with participation from Startup Istanbul founder Burak Büyükdemir via StartupIst Ventures. It brings the startups’ total funds raised to date to €750k.

Recent findings published in the Lancet’s open-access clinical journal, eClinicalMedicine, indicate that more than 40 million women experience long-term health issues lasting months or even years after childbirth.

So prevalent is the problem that as a result of the findings of a separate study conducted in the UK, the Birth Trauma Inquiry, the women’s health minister, Maria Caulfield formally apologized to women, saying that “maternity services have not been where we want them to be.”

Without adequate resources, mothers face increased stress and gaps in their support networks. This can lead to a range of adverse outcomes for mothers and their babies.

CARÁ Health was founded by pediatric nurse CEO Anna Strubel alongside serial entrepreneurs Carina Vantsi and Keiro Vantsi in 2022

“As a mother myself, I know firsthand some of the situations women find themselves in during the maternity process. They’re very personal, and a lot of these stories don’t get out. Still, a lot can be done during the preparation for the birth, and this is what we’re offering with our ‘whole woman’ approach during the pregnancy period. This can also prepare women for the postpartum period,” – CARÁ Health Co-Founder Carina Vantsi.

Alongside a comprehensive app, CARÁ Health also features physical locations in Tallinn, Tartu, and Berlin, the most recently opened location. These locations offer women’s health services ranging from gynaecology to nutritionist counselling, pregnancy yoga, midwife and doula services, and much more.

CARÁ Health now counts one in every two pregnant women in Estonia using its app and has supported over 1,000 pregnancies in Estonia to date.

In April of this year, the startup embarked on its first international expansion, opening a physical location in Berlin to an overwhelming response. 

Within the first two weeks of its opening, 250 spots were sold in the CARÁ Berlin space, validating market demand and prompting CARÁ Health to accelerate its German market expansion plans.

“We were already impressed by CARÁ Health’s traction in its home market of Estonia, and as a relatively recent parent, I saw a huge opportunity in what they were building, and the feedback we had from their customers and users made the stars align and made the investment decision easy,”  Eamonn Carey, Partner, Tera Ventures

The founding team is supported by a medical board that includes family physician Dr Anna Melan and gynaecologist Dr Liina Rajasalu, alongside an office staff of 10 and 30 on-hand maternity and women’s health specialists. 

The company’s Estonian spaces are staffed by a team of six with 25 maternity specialists on hand, while the Berlin location is staffed by a team of three supported by 10 specialists.

The investment will assist the company in further developing its product and technology offer and expanding and growing in the DACH region.

For further information on CARÁ Health and our investment please contact: