INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
startup called Modern Fertility wants to educate women about their reproductive health much earlier in their lives, enabling them to become
company 23andMe and, before that, at a healthcare-focused private equity firm in Greenwich, Conn.At both places, she learned a lot about the
growing number of companies that are empowering customers with information about their own bodies
She also learned, particularly at 23andMe, about the importance of making that information affordable
Indeed, after shelling out $1,500 for tests run by a reproductive endocrinologist to get a better picture of her own reproductive health,
Toward that end, an at-home finger-prick hormone test that Modern Fertility began selling today for $199.The vast difference in price owes
to economies of scale, says Vechery
It is using all CLIA-certified labs, including Quest Diagnostics, the 50-year-old, publicly traded clinical laboratory company
educational company than anything else
about menopause and when women typically start to lose their fertility.Customers also receive one optional one-on-one phone consultation
the price, that may be enough for many women
It was enough for investors
Modern Fertility just closed on $6 million in funding led by Maveron and Union Square Ventures, which were joined by Sound Ventures,
#Angels, SV Angel and additional individual investors.No doubt these backers see a future where an offering like that from Modern Fertility
is a perk offered by employers, more of which are offering fertility benefits to keep their employees happy and in place
benefits.Modern Fertility is also counting on repeat customers, suggesting to them that re-taking its test every now and then will give a
Carly Leahy, a creative strategist who moved to California from Boston in 2014 after Google recruited her, and who most recently logged two
Afton Vechery, left, and Carly Leahy
