June is recognized as World Infertility Awareness Month. As many as 48.5 million couples experience some form of infertility due problems related to female and male fertility. There are several current barriers to healthcare in women which include lack of awareness, cost, and gaps in medical training.
Current fertility treatment options include in vitro fertilization (IVF), donor eggs, surrogacy, egg freezing, and hormone therapy. As awareness in infertility is increasing more employers recognizes the medical need for treatment and are offering fertility benefits.
Below are six emerging startups focusing on women’s reproductive health to look out for in 2022:
1. Progyny is a company founded in 2016 that provides fertility and family building solutions. They are the first public fertility benefits provider and is utilized by over 200 leading employers providing over 4 million people access to fertility coverage.
2. Rinovum Women’s Health is a privately held women’s health company dedicated to bring products to enhance women’s lives and empower them to take charge of their health. They currently have two products on the market for bladder support (Revive) and at home conception aid device (Stork OTC).
3. Univfy is an AI platform which makes the process of fertility more affordable and predictable. The platform provides scientifically validated personalized reports to counsel patients from diverse demographics about their probability of success with IVF.
4. Maven Clinic is a women led telehealth provider that started in 2014 initially as a benefits platform and now offers support services from preconception to post-pregnancy to family care. Maven Clinic currently exceeds $1 billion in valuation making it the only US unicorn company in the women’s and family health sector.
5. Alife Health is a fertility AI startup that recently raised $22M in their series A round. Their AI tool takes analyzes data to identify treatment plans that produced the best outcomes for previous IVF patients. Fertility clinicians can use these insights to craft a personalized IVF treatment plan. With funding, the company will plan to bring their products and mobile app to market.6. Overture Life is a clinical-stage biotechnology company sought to improve IVF pregnancy outcomes though automation and non-invasive embryo selection. By simplifying techniques and optimizing resources, it will make reproductive technologies more affordable and accessible.