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Turtle Health is attempting to go where no fertility startup has gone before: Replicating a full-scale fertility evaluation in the home.

Why it's the BFD: The company raised $5.4 million in seed funding for its largest clinical trial with the Mayo Clinic, CEO Amy Zwanziger tells Erin exclusively.

Details: Switch Ventures, Blue Seed Collective, NextGen Venture Partners, Mayo Clinic Ventures, and US Fertility, the parent company of IVF clinic Shady Grove, participated in the seed round.

Turtle plans to raise its Series A sometime in 2023. 

What's happening: The trial, now enrolling patients, will help determine whether Turtle's approach — which includes an at-home transvaginal ultrasound (TVS) — can spot abnormalities that could interfere with conceiving.

How it works: Turtle's approach costs $300-$500 and includes a health questionnaire, its at-home ultrasound (which is still investigational as it is being actively studied), bloodwork, semen analysis, report and optional virtual counseling.

Of note: Turtle's approach is not meant to replace the standard of care, but rather to serve as an adjunct intended to help improve access.

"Traditional reproductive endocrinology practices are the closest analogy to what we do, but they’re just not able to serve enough patients," Zwanziger says.

Catch up quick: Zwanziger faced significant skepticism from providers and prospective investors who said women wouldn't want to use an invasive device on themselves. 

"People thought we were nuts," Zwanziger says, recalling providers saying learning to properly perform a TVS takes years.

Between the lines: Investors and providers got on board after positive results from Turtle's core study of 56 women, which it funded and published in April in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The trial concluded its technology was as good as an in-clinic TVS when it came to clinical-quality images and estimating a woman's supply of eggs.

Participants rated the virtual experience at 47, which is 58 points higher than the in-clinic score of negative 12.

State of play: A cadre of tech-forward startups have emerged, with offerings ranging from diagnostic testing to IVF — but few provide all the components of an in-person fertility consult virtually. Other virtual-first companies in the reproductive ring include:

Maven Clinic, a virtual maternal and family health unicorn, in November raised $90 million in Series E funds.

Nodal in September debuted as a kind of "Bumble for surrogacy" with $4.7 million in seed capital.

Legacy, a sperm testing and storage company, in May banked $25 million in Series B funding at a valuation of $150 million.

Future Family, a startup combining fertility financing and care support, in April collected $25 million in Series B funding at an $80 million dollar valuation.

What they're saying: Alessandra Ainsworth, a Mayo Clinic OB-GYN involved in Turtle's current clinical trial, commends the company's thoughtful and far-reaching approach, as does Turtle investor and Switch Ventures partner Paul Arnold. 

"I think their efforts, which are tremendous, to do this in a data-driven way while still designing a product that’s beautiful and comprehensive...the level of thoughtfulness has a lot of potential," Ainsworth says.

Yes, but: Provider buy-in will be the company's next challenge.

"There's a perception from some fertility providers that patients either don’t want to or can’t do this," adds Ainsworth. 

Turtle's first trial, she adds, shows patients want this offering and are willing to take it on.   

The backstory: Zwanziger, who previously led digital clinical trials for pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, underwent her own complex fertility journey, and was frustrated by the lack of quality at-home tests and the expense of in-person appointments.

"I wanted to take all the building blocks of that fertility process and make it possible to do all of it at home," Zwanziger says.

🐢 One fun thing: To lay their eggs, loggerhead turtles undertake epic migrations guided by magnetic fields to return to the beaches where they were born.

Exclusive: Turtle Health seeds $5M to bring fertility testing home

The startup plans to bring fertility testing home.

Illustration of a pregnancy test with a dollar sign appearing on the screen.

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Turtle Health is attempting to go where no fertility startup has gone before: Replicating a full-scale fertility evaluation in the home.Why it&#x27;s the BFD: The company raised $5.4 million in seed funding for its largest clinical trial with the Mayo Clinic, CEO Amy Zwanziger tells Erin exclusively.

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Exclusive: Turtle Health seeds $5M to bring fertility testing home

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