Fintech and fertility care startup raises $25M
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Future Family, a startup combining fertility financing and care support, raised $25 million in Series B funding steered by Munich Re Ventures at a valuation of $80 million, the company's founder and CEO Claire Tomkins tells Axios exclusively.
Why it matters: Investors have been flocking to fertility startups in recent months as the pandemic has helped boost awareness of gender-based inequities in care, funding and family planning.
Details: Other participants in Future Family's Series B round include TriVentures, MS&AD, Orix, and existing backers Aspect Ventures, Mindset Ventures, At Inc. and OurCrowd.
How it works: Founded in 2016, San Francisco-based Future Family straddles the gap between fintech and digital health.
- It offers monthly financing plans for IVF and egg freezing starting at $250 per month and provides users with a registered nurse concierge who they can text and call with questions.
- Future Family also partners with other fertility companies, such as KindBody, to offer financing to its customers, and saw 300% growth in gross transaction volume in 2021.
- The company will finance up to $50,000 for IVF treatments at one time and determines interest rates based on standard credit metrics. It does not limit its offering to customers of a certain age.
Between the lines: The high price of IVF treatments, which in the U.S. cost roughly $13,000 per cycle, is spurring entrepreneurs to focus on providing users with the financial support necessary to start the family planning process.
- "It seems like it’s never been harder to build a family," says Tomkins, whose three children were all born via IVF. "Fertility is an incredibly stressful thing, and financing it might be the most stressful part."
- Plus, lower-income families and women of color face reduced access to fertility treatments compared with wealthy families and white women.
What they're saying: Industry observers say that by offering care support for common questions about IVF and egg freezing, Future Family is filling an important need in fertility care.
- "It’s not the nurse’s job to offer care coordination, so that is a missing layer," says Leslie Schrock, a serial women's health investor and author.
And, as investors and entrepreneurs ramp up their focus on fertility, people expect to see more rivals enter the sector with similar or complementary offerings, such as London-based Gaia, New York-based Noula Health, and San Francisco-based Sunfish.
- "Clearly something’s broken — barely anyone can afford this," says Schrock.
- "We expect there will be more competition ahead," says Tomkins. "This is something that is very much on people’s radar."
This article was updated to include current valuation figures for Future Family.
