Hera Fertility

We introduce employer healthcare innovations to the world

What’s the issue?

• Today, at least 9 million Americans face infertility issues each year.

• 50% of infertility cases include a male factor.

• 90% of men who seek help are unable to find the right help due to limited available male fertility programs.

Introducing

What they do

Hera Fertility is a precision health platform that makes it incredibly easy for men to learn about and optimize their fertility health.

• Over 150 patients have received services from Hera Fertility as part of an initial pilot.

• Over 125 OBGYNs and family doctors have signed agreements with and have begun recommending Hera Fertility.

• 6 retail stores are already stocking shelves with Hera Fertility’s products.

How they do it

Hera Fertility enables men to get quality testing and care from the home.

• Semen analysis kits are shipped to patients homes.

• Personalized treatment programs and insights are offered pending results, including prescriptions, supplements, and app-based coaching.

• Hera Fertility offers a subscription-based membership package for $399 / year for quarterly testing and results with additional services billed separately to either the employer, health plan, or patient.

Who they are

• Founders: Thiv Paramsothy, April Rutter

• Headquarters: New York, New York

• Employee Count: 5

• Investors: Techstars, Capital Factory, Foundry Square, Orrick, The Accelerator Centre, Angels (Founder of PagerDuty)

• Funding Status: $255K raised to-date; currently raising $1.5M

Who else is out there?

• Legacy: Backed by FirstMark Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Y Combinator, TQ Ventures, Section 32, and Tribe Capital

• Posterity: Backed by FCA Venture Partners, Distributed Ventures, and WVV Capital

• Bastion: Backed by Werth Ventures, Plug and Play, IHD Ventures, UConn Innovation Fund, and MassChallenge

Hera Fertility considers Modern Fertility and Maven as strong comparables, the former having exited for $225M and the latter valued at $1.3B.

Our thoughts

SUCCESS DRIVERS

• Market Opportunity: With over 4.5M American males experiencing fertility issues, a number that is expected to continue to grow, there is a large opportunity for Hera Fertility to capture. Expansion into other male health segments (e.g., male hormone health, mental health, sexual health, preventive health) represent additional drivers of growth.

• Strong Comparables in Women’s Fertility: Female fertility solutions such as Progyny, Carrot Fertility, Modern Fertility, and Kindbody have been incredibly successful among self-funded employers, helping pave the path for male fertility solutions to also gain great traction.

• Comprehensiveness: With a growing sentiment toward adopting holistic solutions, employers may not only appreciate Hera Fertility’s comprehensive male fertility solution, which spans testing, personalized treatment programs, and a clinical network, but also its potential to integrate with larger, established benefit solutions and platforms lacking male fertility capabilities.

POTENTIAL ISSUES

• Competitive pressure: There is a growing number of competitors also tackling this large market, and more established fertility or men’s health players may also step into this space.

• Engagement: Telemedicine based workflows can have lower overall engagement; however, this can be countered through strong member enrollment tactics.

• Broad clinician support: Broad support from the clinical community is critical to support the credibility of at-home male fertility solutions and motivate uptake.

Your thoughts

Here’s what you thought about last week’s startup, MediCircle: