In today’s era of remarkable advancements in medical technologies, it is disheartening to see that reproductive healthcare remains largely overlooked in the broader conversation. The complexities surrounding fertility science and medicine often leave patients feeling bewildered, frightened, and isolated. Furthermore, the accessibility of reproductive healthcare services remains a pressing concern.
However, amidst this landscape, a number of startups have emerged worldwide with the noble goal of making fertility services accessible to all. Moreover, an increasing number of employers are recognising the importance of supporting fertility treatments and family building as genuine medical needs.
The United States market is leading the charge in providing inclusive fertility and family-forming services, with notable companies like Maven Clinic. These US-based fertility providers offer a comprehensive range of services, including IVF, surrogacy, menopause support, and gynecological assistance, to businesses. In contrast, Europe’s fertility policies have traditionally focused on egg freezing and IVF. Nevertheless, the situation is gradually changing as certain startups in Europe are now offering exclusive benefits in the family-building sector.
This shift in the landscape presents a promising outlook for individuals seeking fertility support and family-building services, as it signifies a growing recognition of the importance of comprehensive reproductive healthcare. By embracing these innovative startups and expanding the scope of fertility services, we can make significant strides toward ensuring that everyone has access to the care and support they deserve in their journey toward building a family. With that in mind, we have made a list of some revolutionary startups globally that offer fertility care benefits to employees.
Fertifa (UK)
Founder/s: Tony Chen, Nick Kuan
Founded year: 2019
Total funding: NA
Fertifa is a platform that offers businesses employee fertility benefits, including fertility testing, family planning, and direct access to medical experts. Its purpose is to assist companies in attracting and retaining talent. Although the landscape of fertility benefits in Europe is relatively new, employees are increasingly expecting more from their employers, which underscores the importance of offering benefits like fertility services.
Fertifa provides best-in-class reproductive healthcare well-being support and navigational advice to corporates and SMEs across the UK, Europe, and all of EMEA in sectors, including retail, banking, financial services, technology, and media.
In a recent development, the London-based startup raised a £5 million seed round, led by leading SaaS investors Notion Capital alongside Triple Point Ventures and a slew of other investors.
Peppy (UK)
Founder/s: Evan Harris, Max Landry, Mridula Pore
Founded year: 2018
Total funding: $57.6M
Yet another London-based company, Peppy, is a digital health platform that supports underserved areas of healthcare including menopause, fertility and pregnancy, men’s health, and women’s health. It works with leading employers, connecting their team members with human experts so they can access personalised support at the touch of a button, on the secure Peppy app.
Employees using Peppy can access experts via a mobile app, with instant messaging, group chat, video consultations, live events, articles, videos, and programs, as well as join communities.
Earlier this year, the female-founded startup secured $45 million in Series B funding led by AlbionVC. The round was joined by a slew of other investors and is focused on the US expansion of Peppy.
Apryl (Germany)
Founder/s: Jenny Saft, Tobias Kaufhold
Founded year: 2019
Total funding: NA
Apryl, a Berlin-based fertility benefits platform, has built the first pan-European fertility benefits platform that enables companies to support employees on their path to parenthood. The benefits platform enables companies to support their employees on their path to parenthood. These benefits include subsidies for care navigation, consultations, access to clinics, and treatments such as egg/sperm freezing, IVF, adoption, or surrogacy.
In 2022, Apryl grabbed €4.1 million in seed funding led by Breega alongside participation from other investors. The funds were used to fuel Apryl’s next stage of growth.
Kindbody (US)
Founder/s: Gina Bartasi
Founded year: 2018
Total funding: $306M
A unicorn from the US, Kindbody is a family-building benefits provider that owns and operates fertility clinics saving employers 25%-30% by contracting directly with them to provide comprehensive virtual and in-person care to their employees. As the direct provider of clinical care, it is uniquely positioned to provide a seamless continuum of care, decrease cost, improve patient experience, and deliver better health outcomes.
Earlier this year, the fertility clinic network and fully virtual care facility provider and family-building benefits provider for employers raised $100 million in capital from US-based Perceptive Advisors, to support future company growth.
Syrona Health (UK)
Founder/s: Anya Roy, Chantelle Bell
Founded year: 2020
Total funding: NA
Syrona is an employee benefits solution tackling diversity and Inclusion, for 45% of the workforce that goes through women’s health events from Endometriosis to Menopause. It is a virtual health clinic that provides specialised support to people with endometriosis and other chronic conditions in the women’s health space.
Its Sora app offers women a range of tools and services to help them navigate chronic gynae conditions, including symptom tracking, telemedicine, expert insights, treatment options, access to mental health services, and a community of fellow patients to connect with.
Carrot Fertility (US)
Founder/s: Tammy Sun, Asima Ahmad
Founded year: 2015
Total funding: $114M
San Francisco-based Carrot Fertility is a leading global fertility benefits provider for employers. Its program includes egg freezing, in vitro fertilization (IVF), adoption, donor and gestational carrier services. They offer a premium pharmacy experience dubbed as Carrot Rx, and also there’s Carrot Pregnancy; and the Carrot Card, which is a flexible fertility benefits debit card for employees.
The company helps in customising a fertility benefit that offers employees financial, medical, and emotional support as they head towards parenthood. In 2021, Carrot Fertility raised a $75 million Series C round that came from Tiger Global, and existing investors
