Editor’s note: Startland News editors selected 10 Kansas City scaling businesses to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list. Now in its 10th year, this feature recognizes founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest, most compelling news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2025’s companies.

Click here to view the full list of Startups to Watch — presented by Morgan Stanley, and independently produced by Startland News — and see how the companies (including this one) were selected.

A woman’s reproductive years present more questions about nutrition than during any other time in her life, said Meredith Evans McAllister, emphasizing how a demand for answers hasn’t historically meant women’s health is prioritized by the mainstream medical community.

“You hear a little bit about what you can’t eat,” the co-founder of Marma explained. “But there’s not a lot about what you should be eating or focusing on.”

To address this gap, McAllister — along with Victoria Weber — launched Marma, the only OB-GYN and registered dietician-approved nutrition platform for women during their birthing years (fertility, pregnancy, and postpartum).

“There has been a huge lack of effort and research and data and money put into women’s health in the past few decades,” McAllister said. “By combining clinical expertise with practical nutrition guidance and daily support, we’re empowering women to take control of their reproductive health and create lasting change for themselves and their families.”

Marma offers courses to support each phase of a woman’s health journey, a community, and a personalized portal that connects users to certified health coaches, McAllister noted.

“We offer all of the information, all the educational resources and courses and content,” she continued. “Then we integrate that with our portal, so that you can speak with somebody, which is really helpful and reassuring.”

“People can dive in and just look at the information on their own,” Weber added, “or they can talk to someone.”

• Elevator pitch: Marma is the only OB-GYN and RD-approved nutrition platform for women during their birthing years.
• Founders: Meredith Evans McAllister and Victoria Weber
• Headquarters location: Overland Park, Kansas 
• Founding year: 2022
• Current employee count: 3
• Funding amount raised to date: $100,000 
• Noteworthy investors: N/A
• Noteworthy programs/accelerators/incubators completed: Springboard Women’s Health Program, Pure Pitch Rally, Digital Sandbox

Marma launched in 2022 and quickly participated in Pure Pitch Rally, then joined Digital Sandbox in 2023. In early 2024, the health startup was among 10 companies chosen for a new innovation cohort from Springboard Enterprises, which made a name for itself locally in recent years through its popular Dolphin Tank pitch showcases.

“Springboard was really great because it gave us a national lens into the women’s health scene,” McAllister explained. “We were able to work with the other companies. I had a team of advisors to bounce ideas off of and was able to just understand the industry from a different perspective.”

“And that really gave us some clarity, I think, on how to move forward,” she added.

From the archives: KC startup on a mission to show women’s health is more than a niche; a nationwide advocate could help

Before that, McAllister noted, the co-founders weren’t sure what their next steps should be.

“Springboard really provided that, like, ‘OK, let’s take a step back and let’s see what is working and be really critical of what’s not working,” she continued. “And then make some really key decisions on moving forward.”

Meredith McAllister, Marma, pitches her company during the 2024 NXTSTAGE Community Health & Vibrancy Pilot Competition in Wichita; photo courtesy of NXTUS

So when the NXTSTAGE Community Health & Vibrancy Pilot Competition — presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas (BCBSKS) through Wichita-based NXTUS — rolled around in the fall, McAllister said, they were ready to launch Marma’s vision at a new scale. Through the competition, Marma earned a pilot project with Hodgeman County Economic Development to bring its women’s health expertise to their community.

“It’s just really exciting to test out some of these things that we’re launching, to work at a different scale, and to offer our next B2B offering,” she noted.

ICYMI: Trio of KC healthtech startups wrap NXTUS competition; Marma scores pilot project

In early 2025, McAllister shared, Marma plans to continue to grow by launching its fertility and cycle support programs — plus eventually add its perimenopause program — all things users  have been asking for.

“We’ll be able to expand our reach and grow on what we already have while we’re still staying really true to — ‘We are the nutrition resource for women’ — just going a little bit deeper and a little wider,” she explained.

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