Tracy Britt Cool
Photo by Madeline Cass for The New York Times

Victoria Thain Gioia (MBA 2015)
Photo courtesy Perelel

A recent article in Forbes reports that reproductive health startup Perelel, cofounded by Victoria Thain Gioia (MBA 2015), has raised a $4.7 million seed round led by Unilever Ventures.

The business was borne of personal experience, with both Thain Gioia and her cofounder realizing there were serious deficits in the information offered during their pregnancies. “Personally, my daughter was born with a cleft lip—though I had no risk factors or genetic link—it really knocked me off my feet because I couldn’t understand why,” Thain Gioia tells Forbes. “I started doing a lot of research with my OB and learned that it was likely due to a folic acid deficiency during the first few weeks of my pregnancy, which tipped me off to the importance of targeted, high-quality nutrition.”

Perelel’s vitamin program offers “clean, targeted nutrition for each distinct stage of a woman’s reproductive life cycle,” the article notes, which was developed in partnership with Thain Gioia’s OBGYN. Thain Gioia also notes that the company is dedicated to ensuring the products can have a wide impact. “As moms, it only felt right to make our high-quality products more accessible so we created a 1:1 model where we donate a supply of our own prenatal vitamins to underserved women here in the United States who lack access to high-quality prenatal care,” she tells Forbes. “To date, we’ve donated nearly $1 million in products.”

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