Issue No. 145: The Future of Fertility Tech

First-time parents are aging, male sperm counts are plummeting, and baby-making tech is booming.

From at-home insemination kits to “fertility buses,” a new wave of reproductive health startups want to help you have kids.

But beyond the flashy branding and chirpy messaging, can they actually deliver?

Maybe Baby

Treading cautiously, millennials and Gen Z are delaying family planning.

• Less than 30% of millennials live with a spouse and a child, compared to 46% of relatively aged baby boomers.
• Over half of 23–38-year-olds haven’t tied the knot yet, and those who have got married later than previous generations.
• The average age of first-time mothers has shot up five years, from 21 to 26, as more women look to build their career before having kids.

Last year, birth rates plunged 4% to record lows as Americans put off baby-having, citing job/income concerns as well as the rising expense of having kids. At the same time, increased access to contraception has led to plummeting teen pregnancy rates.

While it’s largely a positive that we’re fixing our finances before raising a child, a new trend is fast emerging.

Fertility funk. Couples who postpone pregnancy are encountering yet another hurdle: fertility itself.

A woman’s ability to get pregnant peaks by her late 20s and declines at an increasing rate through her 30s. Trailing close behind, male fertility (measured by quality and quantity of semen) peaks between 30 and 35.

As prospective parents wait until their late reproductive years to have a baby, a growing number find themselves facing infertility issues:

• Sperm counts across the globe have halved in the past four decades.
• One in eight families have trouble getting pregnant, and the number of couples seeking infertility services is increasing 5–10% every year.

An emotionally exhausting experience, over 50% of women and 15% of men ranked infertility as the most upsetting event of their lives, yet most couples turn to search engines, social media, or even close friends before consulting a medical practitioner.

Revolutionizing Reproduction

Enter fertility tech. Accelerated by the uncertainty (and dating hiatus) resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, fertility startups have had a big year.

• Legacy reported a 10x boost in sperm test sales YoY, and Stork Club experienced 5x growth in revenue.
• Maven Clinic just secured $110M and unicorn status, while TMRW Life Sciences ($105M), Carrot Fertility ($75M), and Kindbody ($62M) all led massive funding rounds this summer.

Meanwhile, Ro secured $500M in Series D funding earlier in spring and just announced its $225M acquisition of Modern Fertility.

From DTC diagnostics to AI-powered IVF, the fertility landscape spans all aspects of conception. So, who’s who?

Trackers and tests. Mobile apps like Ava, Glow, and Clue help women monitor ovulation cycles and determine peak fertility windows. DTC kits like Modern Fertility, Parla (previously Adia), Bird&Be*, and Oova offer at-home tests to measure fertility metrics like egg count, and all deliver straight to your doorstep for around $160.

Freezing-as-a-service. Another class of startups help with what comes after the test. For those facing infertility or who simply want to save their eggs for a future date, clinics like Kindbody, Extend Fertility, and Future Family are attempting to make the process more accessible and affordable.

Preaching empowerment, these clinics promise women they can have it all — a career now, a baby later… and they seem to be getting through.

• Over 84% of young women would freeze their eggs to “improve opportunities for career progression.”
• 88% of workers say they would change jobs for fertility benefits.

Breaking down benefits. Other companies, like Carrot Fertility, Progyny, and Stork Club, work with employers to help offer fertility benefits. Many provide a platform to guide new couples through the process, demystifing costs and offering education on different options.

Next up, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is getting a makeover. Madrid-based Overture Life raised $15M to sell its IVF box (complete with embryo analysis), while Alife Health raised $9M to optimize IVF using artificial intelligence.

Two to Tango

To date, major fertility players have focused on female-oriented solutions like ovulation tracking or egg preservation.

Yet, men are just as likely as women to be the root of infertility issues, and as male fertility rates decrease around the globe, startups are beginning to heed this historically underserved market.

Spermageddon. Stress and obesity, along with everyday exposure to chemicals like BPA and phthalates, have caused alarming drops in sperm count across Western countries.

Beyond fertility, low semen quantity/quality signal larger health issues like diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. Meanwhile, cultural stigmas around male health have led to a disturbing trend — over 40% of men wait until a symptom is unbearable before seeing a physician.

Now, testing kit companies like Legacy, Dadi, and YO are pioneering $99 at-home solutions, allowing men to check their sperm speed, volume, and concentration from the comfort of their home.

Some doctors, however, doubt the efficacy of mail-in kits, while others doubt the decline of male virility altogether.

Still, entrepreneurs are keen to grab their share of a $5B male fertility market — Béa Fertility just raised $1M in pre-seed funding for their DTC insemination kit.

Coverage concerns. The LGBTQ+ community is contributing to the surge in fertility spending as well. Leading more inclusive services, Mate Fertility recently launched to help LGBTQ+ individuals looking to start a family. Many same-sex couples encounter nationwide discrimination from insurance companies, as most plans only cover heterosexual infertility.

Additionally, transgender individuals hoping to preserve their eggs before undergoing transition procedures often don’t qualify for coverage, with agencies categorizing their need as “social” instead of “medical.”

“It’s much harder for LGBTQ couples and intending single parents to access family-forming care. They’re not going to get that traditional diagnosis of infertility.” – Juli Insinger, co-founder of Carrot Fertility

Takeaway: As the fertility market matures, a diversity of offerings are being developed for a wider base than just women — and rightly so.

In the age of digital health, consumers are accustomed to convenience, abundance, and freedom of choice. Reproduction startups are here to do just that, and they’re probably here to stay.

*Fitt Insider is an investor in Bird&Be. We invest in early-stage health, fitness, and wellness companies. Learn more and get in touch here.