Teal Health is building the Teal Wand, a first-of-its-kind at-home cervical cancer screening device that awaits FDA approval. The company offers an at-home collection kit paired with a telehealth visit; users collect vaginal samples with the Teal Wand, seal them, and ship them to a Teal-approved lab. Founded in 2020 by Kara Egan and Dr. Avnesh Thakor, Teal came out of stealth in January 2023 and began clinical trials in November 2023. The startup plans to use new capital to support the Teal Wand launch and to enhance its telehealth platform, patient portal, educational resources, and customer support while growing its team of medical providers. Teal emphasizes increasing screening rates by making the process more accessible, comfortable, and convenient amid falling preventative screening uptake. Investors have shown strong interest in the company and its women’s health focus. Teal Health is developing a novel self-collection device (referred to on its site as a “collection wand”) that allows women to collect cervical samples at home and mail them to a lab. The device uses a soft sponge tip and is inserted similarly to a tampon; Teal says the full process—reading instructions, collecting, packaging, and mailing—should take less than five minutes. The collection method will support primary HPV testing and Pap cytology triage, enabling follow-up care for HPV-positive users. The company is pursuing de novo FDA clearance and has not specified a public launch date. Teal’s broader mission is to build a women’s telehealth platform in the U.S. that expands beyond cervical cancer screening to services traditionally handed off by mainstream providers. Kara Egan, the CEO, says prior testing and design refinement were supported by a $1M pre-seed raise and work with IDEO.

Total raised

$19M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Jan 2025