Old Saybrook, Connecticut-based Fertility Focus, maker of the OvuSense connected fertility tracking platform, has raised $2.7 million in a Series A round led by Foresight Group and Coutts Investment Club.
Further, the company announced a global partnership with Cambridge, UK-based digital sensor company Sensiia, which it said in a statement will lead to the development of “additional sensor solutions for women that are just beginning their journey.”
What they do
OvuSense is comprised of a vaginal core temperature sensor and an accompanying user app. According to the company, the FDA-cleared platform is capable of predicting a user’s ovulation up to a day in advance and can confirm ovulation with 99 percent accuracy. The app also includes medication or supplement tracking that allows users to measure their impact on cycle patterns, as well as a feature that outlines windows of increased fertility.
What it’s for
Fertility Focus said that the funding will be put toward commercialization of the OvuSense platform in North America and European markets, and the funding of new clinical trials of the technology. Additionally, the company highlighted the combined impact that its algorithms and Sensiia’s own tech could bring to non-invasive, early-stage fertility monitoring.
"With the rich data provided by over 50,000 cycles, including women with a huge variety of cycle types, we can confidently say we're arming women who struggle to conceive with more information about their fertility,” Fertility Focus CEO Robert Milnes said in a statement. “As a result, we are helping many women get pregnant faster, either naturally or through gaining more rapid access to the diagnosis and treatment they need.”
Market snapshot
There’s no shortage of apps and connected trackers vying for the fertility market’s top spot. Mira, a home testing startup for women’s health, recently walked away with the Health 2.0’s VentureConnect pitch competition trophy, while Concepta Diagnostics launched its myLotus Fertility app and monitoring system in the UK just last month. Meanwhile, the Natural Cycles app for cycle tracking and contraception seems to finally be moving past its regulatory stumbles with $30 million in new funding, as fellow app Kindara found itself the recent target of an acquisition.
On the record
"Around 75 percent of those who take six months or more to conceive suffer from one or more ovulatory issues — many of which go undiagnosed due to a lack of understanding and data around individual ovulation cycles," Christine Soden, CFO at Fertility Focus, said in a statement. "The fertility sector is expanding extremely rapidly as couples look for solutions. Following dramatic growth and significant positive feedback from our customers and partners in 2018, we expect to see increasing numbers of women interested in OvuSense and the unique information it provides."
