Twentyeight Health Hires Former Warby Parker Executive as COO to Support Rapid Growth, Meet Increasing Demand

Mara Castro will lead engineering, product, marketing, and customer experience operations as Twentyeight Health expands essential sexual and reproductive telehealth services to all women nationwide
NEW YORK, March 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Twentyeight Health, the leading digital-first women’s healthcare provider delivering convenient, affordable, and stigma-free reproductive and sexual care in 43 states and counting, today announces that Mara Castro has joined the team as Chief Operating Officer. At this pivotal moment for women’s health in the United States, she will support Twentyeight Health’s rapid growth as it seeks to meet the surging demand for convenient online sexual and reproductive health services.
Mara was the first employee hired at Warby Parker, where she spent over 10 years scaling the organization, maintaining a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 80+, creating world-renowned customer experiences, cultivating an engaging company culture, and growing the customer experience team from one person to more than 800 people. Since 2018, Mara has served as a strategic advisor to Twentyeight Health, helping inform strategy to scale the company, providing top-tier customer experiences, and optimizing operations.
“Throughout my 15+ year career, I’ve assembled and led high-performing teams to drive profitable growth at venture-backed startups that transformed them into household names,” said Mara Castro, COO at Twentyeight Health. “My extensive track record building customer-centric operations underscores my commitment to delivering best-in-class customer experiences, and it’s time to put my expertise to use to support women from underserved, difficult-to-reach communities with approachable reproductive and sexual health services, in line with Twentyeight Health’s mission.”
Twentyeight Health’s Q1 Momentum
Mara’s addition to the team is another mark on Twentyeight Health’s timeline of rapid growth. During Q1 2025, Twentyeight Health reached significant milestones toward its goal of expanding access to its telehealth services to all women in the United States:
- Series A funding: Twentyeight Health announced $10 million in Series A funding led by Seae Ventures, with participation from Impact America Fund, The Social Entrepreneurs’ Fund, Foreground Capital, Impact Engine, Gratitude Railroad, Townhall Ventures, and more. This brings the company’s total funding to $25 million.
- Increasing demand: Twentyeight Health is seeing unprecedented growth in 2025, with web traffic increasing by double digits.
- New partnerships with leading Medicaid insurers, including AmeriHealth, Molina, and Aetna Better Health® of Illinois, allow Twentyeight Health to better serve users, half of which make less than $20,000 per year and rely on Medicaid. With a strong, growing network of payer partnerships, Twentyeight Health can often deliver care with a $0 copay and $0 prescriptions.
- No-cost treatment for yeast infections, UTIs, and BV are now available through Twentyeight Health’s Medicaid insurer partnerships. These new offerings address top health needs at no cost for eligible members and will soon be available to all users.
- Student Advocacy pilot launch: Twentyeight Health launched its Student Advocacy Program at New York University (NYU), equipping students to lead the conversation on accessible reproductive and sexual healthcare through tabling events, workshops, and social media campaigns. Twentyeight Health plans to expand the program to college campuses nationwide.
“At Twentyeight Health, our belief that all women should receive the essential care they need, regardless of geography, income, race, age, or coverage status, informs everything we do,” said Bruno Van Tuykom, CEO and Co-Founder of Twentyeight Health. “Mara’s addition to the team is a testament to that. Her experience scaling startups and providing unparalleled customer care will usher us into a new era of growth, allowing us to reach and serve as many women in the U.S. as possible.”
Twentyeight Health’s online services, which cover 93% of women in the U.S., include easy access and direct shipping for multiple birth control options, abortion pills, the “morning after” pill, herpes treatments, and pregnancy tests, as well as condoms, menstrual pads, and tampons, prenatal vitamins, and more. The company has plans to launch additional products and services in 2025.
To learn more about the company’s offerings and find educational resources on sexual and reproductive health, visit www.twentyeighthealth.com.
ABOUT TWENTYEIGHT HEALTH
Twentyeight Health is the leading digital-first women’s healthcare platform making reproductive and sexual healthcare affordable, convenient, and empowering women in 43 states and counting. Through high-quality telemedicine consultations, fast at-home deliveries, and ongoing access to providers for life-changing services like birth control and herpes treatments, Twentyeight Health is changing the face of modern healthcare, particularly for underserved communities. The company accepts almost every commercial insurance and Medicaid plan, offering a reliable additional option to traditional care almost anyone can access. Twentyeight also offers affordable out-of-pocket options.
The company has been named in 2024 Digital Health 100 (DH100), Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, Forbes Next 1000, Top 50 in Digital Health by Rock Health, NYC Digital’s 10 Most Innovative Companies with fewer than 100 employees of 2022, Health 100, and the Inc. Female Founders 100.
Learn more at www.twentyeighthealth.com.
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SOURCE Twentyeight Health