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500 Startups “Hacks Health” With Planned Parenthood Partnership

500 Startups recently announced a partnership with Planned Parenthood Federation of America to offer more opportunities for both growth and technology to be applied to PlannedParenthood’s digital health offerings.

Planned Parenthood joins 500’s Seed Program and hosts growth bootcamp to expand their impact for public health

500 Startups “Hacks Health” With Planned Parenthood Partnership - Lioness Magazine
Jenny Friedler, senior director, Digital Product Lab at Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

500 Startups recently announced a partnership with Planned Parenthood Federation of America to offer more opportunities for both growth and technology to be applied to PlannedParenthood’s digital health offerings.  Planned Parenthood will be sending its Spot On app team through the 500Seed Program in 2017, which is known for its tactical approach to rapid customer acquisition, also known as “growth hacking.”

Spot On is Planned Parenthood’s free, award-winning birth control and period tracking mobile app that empowers people to take control of their period, their birth control, and their sexual health. The goal of this partnership is to enable and empower more people to use Planned Parenthood digital tools to take charge of their health. The first project will be focused on Spot On. Subsequent projects will focus on other Planned Parenthood assets.

“We realized that 500 can help non-profits gain more reach and have an even bigger impact on the world by offering the same growth hacking resources we provide our startups,” said Rebecca Woodcock, EIR at 500 Startups. “Rather than do nothing, we decided to take action to positively affect the trajectory of the non-profits like Planned Parenthood, who has a mission we believe in.”

To kick off this ongoing relationship, Planned Parenthood and 500 Startupsare planned a “growth hackathon” in April to help more people access the Spot On app. The partnership is part of Tech Stands with Planned Parenthood, an effort by tech leaders and innovators to show their support for Planned Parenthood’s health centers and patients and calling on their peers to do the same.

“We’re incredibly grateful for 500 Startups’ support of Planned Parenthood and thrilled to work with them to find new and innovative ways to share Spot On, our popular period tracker and birth control app,” Jenny Friedler, senior director, Digital Product Lab at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said.  “Planned Parenthood was founded on the radical idea that women should have the information and care they need to live strong, healthy lives and fulfill their dreams. Technology helps us bring that information and care to the millions of people who rely on us — whether they’re on their phones or in a health center.

Women’s health and sexual health aligns with 500 Startup’s recent initiative around digital health investments.  They recently launched a digital health accelerator as part of their core seed program, lead by Rebecca Woodcock their Entrepreneur-in-Residence, a startup founder with direct experience in building healthcare and digital health related startups.

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