Jude's Bladder Health Program for the Healthcare Industry

Bladder issues, whether in the form of incontinence, urinary infections, or an overactive bladder, are one of the biggest health issues affecting numerous people, approximating 2.3 billion globally, with women more likely to be affected.

Though this is the case, not many solutions have been developed to aid those facing this very real problem. Many companies working in the healthcare industry are found focusing on sexual health or mental health, and bladder health has often been overlooked.

Jude, a UK-based startup founded by Peony Li, is the first and possibly the only startup at the moment focusing on helping those with bladder issues, through its assistive products and bladder care assessment program, specifically for middle-aged women.

Cause and Effect

Peony Li started out her career in investment banking, then as the Head of Investments at Founders Factory, and delved into the healthcare industry as the Head of Operations at Daye, a UK-based period care femtech company a couple of years after.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Li supplied medical-grade PPE and encountered many middle-aged women who owned their own businesses, further inspiring Li to pursue her business idea of healthcare for women.

Upon research, Li finds middle-aged women to be the most affected by bladder issues. Though Li herself doesn’t fall in the target demographic, she faced recurring urinary tract infections as a teenager and young adult and saw that proper treatment for it was severely overlooked. The failure Li sees in traditional healthcare routes pushed Li to develop Jude as it is now.

Li launched Jude in the UK in January 2022 and has since reached over 18,000 customers. After securing $4.24 million in a seed round, Li has plans to expand her business and provide her much-needed healthcare services to women in the US.

Bladder Health and Care

Running a company with not much competition, Li views the untapped space of bladder healthcare as an opportunity to fully and deeply explore the area of bladder health through experimentation and actively involve customers in product development in order to learn what customers truly want and need.

At the moment, Jude’s assistive products available for purchase include bladder strength supplements made from natural ingredients like pumpkin seed and soy germ extract that do not require a prescription, as well as absorbent, leak-proof underwear, pads, and liners.

Backed by a team of gynecologists and dietitians and said to be clinically proven, Jude’s supplements are meant to lead to 66% fewer leaks in 12 weeks. Jude has applied for a medical license as well as patents in the UK to prove its bladder-strengthening efficacy and that it contains pharmaceutical-grade ingredients.

Jude’s bladder care service and program consist of a support hotline with trained specialists offering free bladder care advice to women and an online assessment that helps the company make personalized retraining plans for customers to regain control of their bladder.

The treatments may include lifestyle changes, peeing habits, weekly wellness training, and pelvic floor exercises. Jude also has a community with about 4,000 women who partake in weekly exercises together.

Jude’s current services are expertly designed by in-house general practitioners. Li is ambitiously planning on adding more urologists and doctors in the future as Jude starts working on more support services.

As of right now, Jude has plans to launch a digital consultation service that lets customers fill in an online questionnaire to be submitted to partner e-pharmacies for cases where customers need prescribed treatment. The service is planned to launch early next year.

Li is optimistic that Jude will start out strong in the US. The company will sell supplements via retail outlets by the end of 2023 and hopes to offer direct-to-consumer sales in early 2024, with projections of reaching about 100,000 customers.

Jude’s most recent seed round is led by Eka VC and Joyance, with June Angelides from Samos VC and Dr. Fiona Pathiraja from Crista Galli Ventures as participants. Aside from investor funding, Jude continues its developments with a grant from Innovate UK, the company Li worked at as a Senior Business Mentor.

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