Madeline Darcy / Kaya Ventures

Madeline Darcy is the founder and solo GP of Kaya Ventures, investing in women’s health and the care economy at pre-seed and seed.

Madeline’s background shaped how she sees opportunity. She’s one of 13 kids from a blended family in Australia. Parents who met working at Domino’s. Moved to the US as a teenager and watched her mother navigate chronic conditions within the Medicaid system. Before investing, she worked as a consultant. Instead of joining a multi-stage firm, she chose to build something of her own.

Her thesis starts with how we measure markets wrong. “When we started to talk about GDP, we didn’t account for work that was done at home. If you are taking care of your aging mother, that does not account for GDP. Yet the moment that you get an outside care worker into the home now that’s part of GDP.” We’re measuring economic activity wrong, which means we’re sizing markets wrong.

Our conversation gets into why most VCs miss women’s health opportunities. They lack the lived experience to see what’s in front of them. Investment in women’s health companies increased 314% since 2018. Sounds impressive until you realize that’s catch-up from a ridiculously low baseline. Madeline’s looking at Alzheimer’s, heart disease, osteoporosis. Conditions that disproportionately affect women or affect them differently. “70% of our healthcare is largely driven by chronic conditions. Women are living longer, which means they are more likely to be the caretaker of their spouse. They are more likely to be involved in end-of-life decisions. And this is all part of health, too.”

Full episode below, or on Spotify / Apple Podcasts