Two health startups receive Penn Medicine-Wharton funds

PHILADELPHIA— Two new companies will each receive a $250,000 investment from the Penn Medicine-Wharton Fund for Health: Cayaba Care, a maternal health start-up, and On the Goga, a workplace well-being company.

“Both of these companies launched in Philadelphia and have a keen understanding of the issues here—and beyond the city—that they’re trying to remedy. Their respective efforts to improve maternal health and focus on mental health in the workplace are two issues close to our own efforts at Penn Medicine and are natural fits for the Fund,” says Ajeenah Amir, co-director for the Fund and director of Civic Engagement & Community Partnerships at Penn Medicine.  

Cayaba Care seeks to address the racial maternal health equity gap by providing a platform that integrates community health workers and doulas into typical prenatal and maternity care.

“The Fund for Health's support enables us to expand our holistic, community-centered maternity care in Philadelphia, ensuring more mothers receive the comprehensive support they deserve,” says Adaeze Enekwechi, founder of Cayaba Care.

On the Goga was established to combat workplace burnout by providing a “Wellbeing Hub” and workshops designed to better address the mental strains of work. "This investment empowers us to address social determinants like stress and mental health, helping to create healthier, more connected workplaces across Philadelphia," says Anna Greenwald, founder and CEO of On the Goga.

Launched in 2021, the Fund for Health invests in start-ups that seek to positively affect the social determinants of health in Philadelphia and beyond. With the addition of On the Goga and Cayaba Care, the Fund has now invested in nine companies.

“Moving forward, we will continue to seek out founders for investment opportunities that will maximize the local impact on social determinants of health,” Amir says. “There are a lot of entrepreneurs driving innovation for the good of their communities, and we want to find and support them.”  

Amir was recently named co-director of the Fund for Health and will lead the program alongside co-director Rajith Sebastian, Head of Impact Investments at the Environmental, Social and Governance Initiative at the Wharton School. A Philadelphia native, Amir has served as Penn Medicine’s director of Civic and Community Partnerships for more than three years and previously worked as the director of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Office of Public Engagement, among other roles in city government.

Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.

The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.

Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.