# Teal Health

> Teal Health is a San Francisco women's health company behind the Teal Wand, the first and only FDA-authorized at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening. Founded by Stanford physician-researcher Dr. Avnesh Thakor and CEO Kara Egan, the company pairs a comfortable, tampon-like self-collection device with a women's telehealth platform so people with a cervix can screen for HPV at home and skip the stirrups. The device uses the same clinically validated Roche cobas HPV test that providers use in-clinic, detecting cervical precancer 96% of the time, and shipped nationwide to all 50 states after winning FDA authorization in May 2025.

- **Founded:** 2021
- **Headquarters:** San Francisco, United States
- **Founders:** Kara Egan (Co-Founder & CEO), Dr. Avnesh Thakor (Co-Founder (Stanford physician-researcher))
- **Team size:** ~15-29 employees
- **Products:** Teal Wand, Teal Health telehealth platform
- **Notable:** First and only FDA-authorized at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening (May 2025), Received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, SELF-CERV clinical trial showed self-collected samples match clinician-collected accuracy, detecting cervical precancer 96% of the time

## Products & services

- **Teal Wand** — An FDA-authorized at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening. Ergonomically designed (resembling an elongated tampon), it lets users collect their own vaginal sample at home and mail it to a lab for Primary HPV testing using the Roche cobas HPV test.
- **Teal Health telehealth platform** — A women's telehealth experience that includes a virtual visit with a Teal provider to review screening history, a results portal delivering findings within about a week, and provider-coordinated follow-up care when needed.

## Achievements

- First and only FDA-authorized at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening (May 2025)
- Received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation
- SELF-CERV clinical trial showed self-collected samples match clinician-collected accuracy, detecting cervical precancer 96% of the time
- Awarded a $1.68M SBIR grant from the National Cancer Institute / NIH
- Expanded availability to all 50 states
- Raised roughly $23M total from investors including Emerson Collective, Forerunner Ventures, Serena Ventures, and Labcorp

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — FDA authorizes the Teal Wand, the first and only at-home self-collection device for cervical cancer screening.
- **2025-01** — Raises an additional $10M led by Emerson Collective and Forerunner Ventures, bringing total funding to about $23M.
- **2025-08** — Begins shipping kits to customers, with devices manufactured near Sacramento.
- **2025-12** — Expands nationwide, bringing at-home cervical cancer screening to all 50 states.

## Links

- Website: https://www.getteal.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/teal-healthco
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/TealHealth
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tealhealth
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teal.health
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089478520281

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/teal-health
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-27