Julia Cheek started her company to create a better solution for a problem she faced. In 2015, Cheek was working in consulting when she started to feel sick and spent six months going to specialists who ran a variety of lab tests to find out why she wasn't feeling well. "I never got the results and nothing was ever explained to me. But because I was on a high deductible plan, months later I ended up getting bills from the labs for hundreds and hundreds of dollars – totaling up to over $2,000 in out-of-pocket in costs," says Cheek. After all the doctors appointments and lab tests, she learned that she had multiple hormone and vitamin deficiencies. The experience inspired the Harvard Business School graduate to build EverlyWell, her at-home lab testing company, later that year.
EverlyWell offers a variety of regulatory-compliant, physician-mediated at-home lab tests, including sexual health, thyroid, metabolism, men’s health and breast milk DHA testing. The detailed, easy-to-understand results are accessible via EverlyWell's secure website. The team has raised $5M in venture capital funding as of May 2017. When Cheek presented EverlyWell on Shark Tank, Lori Greiner gave $1M as a line of credit at eight percent interest for a five percent equity stake. I spoke to Cheek about how she is making the healthcare industry more accessible.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/elanagross/2018/07/16/how-this-female-founder-is-democratizing-the-health-care-industry/#4470d61d1a44