Meghan Markle’s $500K bet on menopause care: the women making midlife mainstream

Apr 13, 2025

Meghan Markle is back in the startup game—with a headline-making investment into women’s health.

She’s invested $500,000 in Midi Health (Series B round), a US-based telehealth startup tackling the perimenopause and menopause care gap head-on.

This isn't a one-off move. Meghan has now backed at least 10 startups, according to Fortune—and she's becoming a serious player in a space long dismissed as ‘niche’:

“Women need to see that they can build,” said Meghan. “Women don’t need to be afraid to talk about finance. And I think the more financial literacy we have, the stronger we’re going to be.”

What is Midi Health?

Founded in 2021 by Joanna Strober, Midi Health provides insurance-covered virtual care for women navigating perimenopause and menopause. That means expert-led hormone therapy, lifestyle support, and symptom management—delivered digitally and affordably.

Joanna’s motivation? Her own frustrating search for menopause care.

“I was having symptoms and saw three doctors before one finally said, ‘Oh, this is perimenopause.’ That was the moment I knew this was a huge opportunity.”

And building Midi Health wasn’t easy.

“A no is actually never a no. It’s just a not now,” Strober shared.
“Pretty much everyone who invested in me said no at one point.”

Her approach? Stay in touch, share progress, and turn rejections into relationships.

It worked—Midi Health has raised over $100 million in total funding (April, 2024), including a $63M Series B round in September 2024 led by Emerson Collective, with participation from GV (Google Ventures), and celebrity investors like Amy Schumer, Tory Burch, and Connie Britton .

The $600bn menopause opportunity

The menopause market is being revalued—and fast.

Traditional estimates put it at around $24 billion, but newer insights—including from Female Founders Fund—suggest the broader opportunity is worth $600 billion+ globally, factoring in:

Hormonal & non-hormonal treatments
Supplements & wellness
Workplace support
Femtech & digital health

Despite affecting half the population, menopause has been historically underfunded, underserved—and wrapped in stigma.

That’s changing.

Meghan’s investing & brand-building playbook

Meghan isn’t just investing—she’s building an empire.

She’s backed a growing portfolio of women-led, purpose-driven startups, including:

Clevr Blends (wellness lattes)
Highbrow Hippie (clean beauty & haircare)
Cesta Collective (ethical luxury bags)

And last week, she officially launched her own consumer lifestyle brand, As Ever, with its first line of products: premium but accessible jams, priced between $10 and $16. The brand enters a crowded field of elevated pantry staples—think Stonewall Kitchen and Crofter’s Organic.

Meghan’s approach follows a tried and tested playbook: launch with media, build community, and scale with product.

In March, she debuted her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan—a soft-focus, personal take on lifestyle and wellness.
This week, she dropped the first episode of her new podcast, Confessions of a Female Founder, with Lemonada Media. The series spotlights female entrepreneurs and whilst learning from guests in an informal way.
Her first guest? Whitney Wolfe Herd, founder of Bumble.

Celebrity capital in women’s health

Meghan’s not alone.

Halle Berry launched Re•spin, a menopause-focused wellness brand targeting fitness, mental health and hormonal balance .
Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, and Serena Williams have also leaned into femtech and women’s health, combining capital with their personal brand.

They’re not just investing in products—they’re investing in markets that have long been neglected. And now being disrupted by female entrepreneurs.

The bottomline

This is more than a wellness story. It’s a finance and a gender equity story.

Midlife women aren’t invisible. They are driving innovation, allocating capital, and reshaping women’s health and entrepreneurship

Menopause is finally going mainstream. And this time, it’s being built to scale.

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse