The Penn Medicine - Wharton Fund for Health invested in Twentyeight Health, a telemedicine service seeking to improve access to women’s healthcare.
The Fund for Health — an initiative led by both Penn Medicine and the Environmental, Social, and Governance Initiative at the Wharton School — invests in for-profit startups that strengthen social determinants of health for disadvantaged Philadelphians.
The most recent of the fund's portfolio companies, Twentyeight Health, aims to increase access to sexual and reproductive healthcare for women, especially those in underserved areas. Their services include rapid delivery of birth control, audio consultations with a health professional, and STD treatment.
Twentyeight Health launched in 2019 and has since expanded to over 30 states. The company emphasizes discretion and seeks to make medication more affordable.
Since its inception in 2021, the Fund for Health has invested $1.6 million across seven companies. Penn students work with Wharton ESG staff to identify companies that meet the investing criteria, which then receive funding through the partnership with Penn Medicine.
“The student investment team in the Fund for Health recognized Twentyeight Health’s innovations and how they position the company to address challenges in women’s health, especially for underserved communities here in Philadelphia,” Rajith Sebastian, co-director of the Fund for Health and head of impact investments for the Wharton ESG Initiative, said in a press release.
Twentyeight Health co-founders said this funding would allow the company to expand its geographic footprint and range of services.
“Since its launch, the Fund for Health has done incredible work to ensure that lower-income Philadelphia residents can access the health care they deserve,” Twentyeight Health co-founder Bruno Van Tuykom said in a press release. “We are honored to receive an investment from this fund, and to have the opportunity to collaborate with this team as our company enters its next phase of growth.”
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