How Naviday Health Is Transforming Menopause Care With AI-Guided Support
StartUp Health community member David Franklin, CEO & Founder of Naviday Health, is tackling the silence and stigma around menopause with an AI-guided care platform that empowers women, equips providers, and redefines midlife health.
The Challenge
For millions of women, midlife health challenges like menopause remain shrouded in silence and misunderstanding. Hot flashes, brain fog, anxiety, and other symptoms derail careers, disrupt family life, and chip away at quality of life. Yet too often, the healthcare system responds with dismissiveness or a shrug: “Wait it out.”
StartUp Health community member David Franklin, CEO & Founder of Naviday Health, believes this gap is more than a medical oversight. It’s a systemic failure that costs women confidence, costs employers productivity, and costs society the contributions of women at the peak of their careers. “There’s still no established pathway for care,” Franklin says. “So my team and I are stepping in to change that.”
Origin Story
Franklin’s path to women’s health innovation is both global and deeply personal. A Gulf War veteran, technologist, and serial entrepreneur, he has built companies, taken them public, and lived the intensity of startup life. But the seeds of Naviday Health go back to his teenage years.
At 17, preparing to leave for the Navy, Franklin recalls sensing that his mother was fighting her own battle – navigating menopause – without clinical, social, or emotional support, all while living in a household shaped by domestic violence. That memory never left him.
Decades later, after the tragic loss of his father to a preventable medication adherence issue, Franklin committed his career to healthcare technology. With Naviday Health, he has reconnected with that younger self and resolved to build a better system for women like his mother – one that finally puts empathy, support, and innovation at the center of care.
Under the Hood
Naviday Health’s core product, L.U.C.I. (Lifestyle Understanding, Care Intelligence), is an AI-guided care plan engine that acts like a daily guide through the hardest levels of the midlife health journey. “It’s like having a guide in a video game,” Franklin explains. “But instead of a game, it’s about helping women feel better as their bodies change.”
The app tracks symptoms, integrates data from wearables and in-home tests, and helps users maintain medication adherence rates far above the national average. At the heart of the platform is a Consumer Health Record (CHR) – a blockchain-secured, portable information exchange that bridges the gap between a patient’s lived experience and the provider’s limited clinic time.
AI is central to the experience, but Franklin resists the term “artificial.” Instead, Naviday focuses on assisted and actionable intelligence: empowering women to take ownership of their health while equipping providers with real-world evidence that informs smarter care decisions.
The result? A woman like Maria, a mid-career manager struggling with hot flashes and brain fog, no longer hears “wait it out.” Instead, she walks into her doctor’s office with a clear record of her symptoms and a personalized care plan. She feels confident, her employer retains a thriving leader, and the stigma of menopause is replaced with support and solutions.
What’s Next
Naviday Health is beginning with menopause, but the vision is broader. The same guided, AI-powered care pathways will expand into other chronic conditions tied to midlife, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Employers, Franklin argues, will play a pivotal role. Far from being a perk, supporting menopause care is a retention and leadership strategy, ensuring that the largest demographic in today’s workforce can advance rather than drop out.
Yet for all the technology, Franklin is clear about what sets Naviday apart: humanity. “The differentiator will come back to how we deal with and see people,” he says. “We see them, we hear them, and we engage with them individually.”
If Naviday succeeds, the world will look very different. No woman will face menopause alone. Millions will be able to thrive in midlife and beyond, supported by systems that finally reflect their needs. As Franklin puts it, “We need to change the narrative around menopause. It’s not a pause, it’s a continuation. It’s an advancement for these remarkable women.”
We’re excited to welcome David Franklin and Naviday Health into the StartUp Health community, where their mission to transform midlife care will grow alongside other Health Transformers working to reimagine health and wellness.
Connect with Naviday Health via email
Join StartUp Health
An exclusive global community for the bold decision makers, thought leaders, funders, and innovators transforming the future of health
Network Plans for Everyone in the Ecosystem: If you're a decision maker, thought leader, funder, or industry stakeholder – this is where the global health ecosystem comes together to learn from experts, share insights, build relationships, explore partnerships, and shape what’s next in health. Join today, no application necessary.
Health Moonshot Plans for Startups & Scaleups: If you're a founder or CEO building a digital health, biotech, or life sciences company, our Health Moonshot Communities are designed for collaboration, coaching, and strategic growth at every stage. Our communities include: Alzheimer’s & Brain Health, Cardiometabolic & T1D, Food as Medicine, Mental & Behavorial Health, and more. If you’re mission-driven, collaborative, and ready to contribute as much as you gain, you might be the perfect fit. Learn more and apply today.
Follow us on LinkedIn for daily updates on Health Moonshots.
Published: Oct 2, 2025
By Nicole Kinsey
