Maternova acquires Impact Review

By Emily Greenhalgh
PBN Web Editor
Twitter: @EGreenhalgh

PROVIDENCE – Maternova Inc., a women-owned startup focused on solutions for dealing with maternal mortality, has acquired Impact Review, the company announced Monday.

Incorporated in 2010 out of Stanford Business School, Impact Review is a review portal focusing on lifesaving products for use in developing countries.

The company’s content is largely user-driven and its platform, which will be incorporated in Maternova’s existing interactive platform, includes an “intuitive product rating system.”

“In the U.S. before we spend $20 on a meal there are countless reviews telling you how you should spend your money. But in the developing world, there is no review system to review products that are a matter of life or death,” Nupur Srivastava, president of Impact Review, said in a statement.

Impact Review has a “product user rating system that allows for user-generated content where people who were clinicians in the field and were connected to a particular project or cause could provide good, credible reviews,” according to Allyson E. Cote, Maternova vice president.

Cote told Providence Business News that the Impact Review system will tie into a number of Maternova platforms, including the company’s Innovation Index, which tracks products through the inception phase to market.

“[Maternova] has seen pretty explosive growth in 2012. We’ve gained a huge amount of traction in the market and we’re very excited to see what’s to come,” added Cote.