Teal Health, maker of an FDA-approved at-home cervical cancer screening device, has raised $22 million in a Series A funding round.
Teal’s self-collection device is paired with a telehealth visit, plus results interpretation and the option to connect patients to follow-up care.
The round was led by .406 Ventures, with support from Emerson Collective (of Yosemite), Forerunner, Labcorp and Starfire Ventures (previously Serena Ventures). Additionally, Teal nabbed new Japan-based investors, MPower Partners.
The funding brings Teal’s total raised to $45 million and will be used to gear up for an expected surge in demand in 2027.
“The only way to increase [access] is to bring it at home,” Kara Egan, co-founder and CEO of Teal, told Fierce Healthcare. “It’s really important to remove all those barriers and make it easier for women to get screened, and that’s what at-home can do.”
Cervical cancer is among the most preventable cancers, yet nearly a quarter of women are overdue for their cervical cancer screening. The gaps are even higher for one age group: a third of women in their 20s have never been screened, per a recent JAMA study. This is in part due to COVID-era elective procedure delays and physician shortages, Egan says. But the broader issue is misguided messaging.
“There must have just been a really big campaign about the pap smear, and everyone thought their job was done,” Egan said. “We call it the pap smear, even though that’s not how you really do it anymore, and we don’t talk about it being a cervical cancer screening.”
Last year, the American Cancer Society updated its guidelines to recognize self-collected samples for HPV screens. Teal, which got FDA authorization for its Teal Wand in 2025, has screened thousands of women to date, finding nearly two-thirds are behind on their screenings. Because so many of its users are behind, Teal catches cancer at much higher rates—5x—than what is expected from a general population screening. “It’s because we’re able to create a screening that is allowing women to re-engage with her health,” Egan noted.
Starting in 2027, most health plans are required to cover the cost of self-collected tests with no cost to consumers, including follow-up tests. Teal is working on getting billing coordinated with major commercial payers ahead of that deadline. The company is already in-network with Aetna, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield and UnitedHealthcare, costing $99 with insurance or else $249 cash pay. With the new federal coverage mandate, it is bracing for more demand and full coverage.
“Patients are demanding more convenient ways to access healthcare, and Teal has proven that convenience doesn’t have to come at the expense of accuracy,” Kathryn Taylor Reddy, partner at .406 Ventures, said in an announcement. “With insurance coverage expanding in 2027, Teal Health is positioned to transform how millions of women receive essential preventive healthcare.”
The model also has long-term international potential. For instance, despite Japan’s national program of cervical cancer screening, estimates suggest only 40% of women have had the screening in the past two years. Egan sees a future where Teal could expand to other countries facing the same challenge.
Earlier this year, Teal announced a partnership with UC Davis. The pilot study aims to assess how at-home HPV screens can integrate directly within a health system setting, close preventive care gaps and reduce burden on care teams.
Patients can also engage with Teal directly through its website, with a telehealth visit required with a Teal clinician before a kit is ordered. It has published 17 peer-reviewed papers and presentations to advance research on self-collection screening, and is a member of the Cervical Cancer Roundtable, a collaboration between the American Cancer Society and Cancer Moonshot.
The company has also partnered with WashU Medicine on a pilot study to distribute its kits through trusted community settings across Illinois and Missouri. The study is evaluating whether this approach can increase screening participation and improve follow-up care. Additionally, Teal’s Wand is offered on the Thatch Marketplace. Employees can use their benefits to buy the kit and get virtual support and follow-up care. This is part of Teal’s broader strategy to partner with health systems, payers, employers and public health organizations to expand access to cervical cancer screening.