Yesterday NextGen Jane, a femtech company focused on reproductive health, announced that it scored $9 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Material Impact, with participation from Access Industries, Viking Global Investors, Liminal Ventures and unnamed angel investors. 

WHAT THEY DO 

The Oakland, California-based startup uses tampons in order to tell women about their reproductive health. The company, which is yet to be launched, is still collecting its clinical data set. 

The way it works is the company will mail out a test kit with a special tampon to the user. Women will mail in their tampons after use, which include cells shed during menstruation, to the lab. That material is then analyzed and for disease detection. According to the company, its system is able to preserve the “DNA and RNA of the cells from the endometrium, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries.”  

WHAT IT’S FOR

The company plans use the new money to continue its scientific data set and get it on track for a 2020 commercialization date. 

THE TREND

The world of reproductive health is increasingly moving towards the digital space. Fertility trackers are becoming more popular in recent years. Natural Cycles, the first app to be CE-certified as a contraceptive in Europe, is one of the main players in the space. 

In December London-based Concepta Diagnostics, an app and monitoring system that tests women’s LH hormone levels to detect ovulation and pregnancy, launched. Ava, a connected menstrual cycle tracking, out of Zurich Switzerland is another name coming on to the scene, raising $30 million last year. 

ON THE RECORD

“We are excited to be partnering with Material Impact to bring to market a better way to manage health,” Ridhi Tariyal, co-founder and CEO of NextGen Jane, said in a statement. “Decoupling sample collection from the clinic is a simple but effective way to expand access to care for many underserved populations. Access to care in the US and globally is increasingly influenced by geography and wealth. For our part, Jane is addressing the looming resource crisis in medicine by creating affordable solutions that separate care from brick and mortar settings and truly enable individualized, preventative care.”