Company leader
Rachel Blank
Founder and CEO
Allara Health
Rachel Blank is the founder and chief executive of Allara Health, a New York virtual practice that treats women's hormonal and metabolic conditions. She started it in 2020 after a decade of searching for good care for her own polycystic ovary syndrome.
Growing Up Around Medicine
Blank grew up around health care, with a father who is an OB-GYN and a mother who worked for health insurers. She was diagnosed with PCOS in her 20s after about three years of doctors and tests, and the diagnosis caught her off guard: "it was especially surprising to me because I had grown up as the daughter of a gynecologist." Even with a diagnosis, she struggled to find doctors who took her symptoms seriously.
From General Catalyst to Ro
Blank worked as an investor at General Catalyst and earned her MBA at Harvard Business School in 2018. She then joined Ro, a General Catalyst portfolio company, as director of strategy. Ro served only men's health at the time, and she pushed to launch Rory, its brand for women going through menopause.
Interviews in a Quarantine Apartment
During the pandemic, Blank started Allara in her apartment, posting a Craigslist ad that offered women with PCOS $20 to talk with her about their care. She tested demand with a waitlist under a different brand name, and in 2021 Allara launched with a $2.5 million seed round led by Global Founders Capital. She saw the opening this way: "Where I saw this massive gap was in specialty care."
Growing Allara
Allara serves women in all 50 states, mostly through insurance, and more than 120,000 women have received care. In October 2026 it raised $30 million from investors including Index Ventures and GV to build AI tools for its clinicians and patients. Blank sums up the mission in one line: "Women shouldn't have to fight for quality healthcare."
New Motherhood in New York
Blank became a mother in the summer of 2026. That fall she took her son to the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan for the first time, a season she loves for "The apple cider, the cozy fall feeling".