London-based fertility tech startup, Béa Fertility, announced on Monday that it has raised £2.5M (approximately €2.9M) to introduce its ‘groundbreaking’ fertility treatment to early adopters in the UK market.
The round was led by Octopus Ventures and joined by JamJar and Forward Partners, with additional participation from existing investors Calm/Storm and Q Ventures. This raise brings Béa Fertility’s total funding to date to $4.2M (approximately €4.8M).
In a world where access to fertility care is often limited and costly, Béa Fertility, founded by Tess Cosad and George Thomas, is on a mission to redefine the landscape. With their at-home fertility treatment, Béa Fertility is making clinical-grade care accessible to everyone.
Fund utilisation
This new funds will enable the company to make the first Béa Treatment Kits available to the public.
The first Béa treatment is available to purchase online via Béa’s website now, says the company.
The first users to purchase a kit will pay just £350 for three ICI treatment cycles, with one Treatment Kit delivered at the beginning of each menstrual cycle throughout the three-month treatment programme.
The programme is targeted at users currently trying to conceive.
Addressing inequality in access to fertility care
While 1 in 6 experience fertility challenges, access to fertility care is varied and often severely lacking.
Particularly for underserved groups, including the LGBTQIA+ community, the route to treatment is complex, full of hurdles to jump, and carries a hefty price tag.
“Our mission at Béa is to address this inequality in access to fertility care by providing more inclusive, clinical-grade fertility treatments that people can use in the comfort of their home,” says Tess Cosad, CEO & co-founder of Béa Fertility.
“By launching the world’s largest at-home fertility study, we’re also working to help close the fertility data gap to help improve the future of fertility care – people need better access to earlier interventions on their family building pathway,” adds Cosad.
Béa Fertility treatment: A Game-changer
The Béa Fertility Treatment Kit offers a simple fertility treatment called Intracervical Insemination (ICI).
Unlike traditional methods like IVF and IUI, this treatment can be safely carried out at home.
The process involves placing a small cervical cap containing semen at the cervix using a clinically-approved applicator.
The cap is left for an hour, allowing users to go about their daily activities.
“You pull the cervical cap out much the way you would a tampon, using the removal string attached to the cap,” she explains.
Two weeks after treatment, users can test for pregnancy.
The Béa Treatment eliminates the need for invasive hormone injections and clinical procedures, providing a more accessible and affordable option.
Sharing details on ICI’s efficacy, Cosad says, “ICI has been shown to have 50 per cent efficacy over six cycles of treatment and was recently included in the NICE clinical guidelines alongside IUI and IVF. The UK’s IVF success rate is 27 per cent.”
Building from the ground up
The journey of developing Béa’s at-home fertility treatment was not without its challenges.
Talking to Silicon Canals, Cosad says, “While ICI is not a new procedure, it has traditionally only been delivered in clinical settings. There was no blueprint for us to follow to develop a treatment that would enable it to be carried out at home.”
She continues, “It took numerous rounds of prototyping and iterating the design of our product to get it to a place we were happy with – it had to be something people could comfortably and easily use at home while also being safe and clinically approved.”
“Add to this the general lack of information and research around fertility (the data gap in fertility care is astounding), and it felt like we were building from the ground up. But this allowed us to create a product that was truly tailored to the needs of those struggling with fertility. It could address the existing inequalities that leave many at a disadvantage when trying to conceive,” she tells Silicon Canals.
Advice for healthcare innovators
As the founder of a femtech startup, Tess Cosad offers valuable advice for entrepreneurs creating impactful healthcare innovations.
“Know your users. Understand their problems, worries, and woes in painstaking detail – know what keeps them up at night and build something they need. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to find the right capital. If that’s venture capital, then it’s essential to find investors who truly understand your mission and the problem you are solving,” shares Cosad.
“For femtech innovators, we often pitch solutions or products largely misunderstood or considered ‘taboo’. I would counsel all founders to do their research and look for investors who are ready to support them with more than just financial backing – whether that’s introducing you to valuable contacts, providing sage advice and support throughout the inevitable peaks and troughs, or simply having a deep understanding and passion for what it is you’re trying to achieve. Your investors can be the difference between succeeding at this game or not,” she adds.
The future of Béa Fertility
Béa Fertility is launching a pioneering pilot to trial using the Béa Treatment Kit within the NHS.
Currently, the only fertility treatments funded by the NHS are IVF and IUI; access depends on location, relationship status, BMI, and sexual orientation.
Working in partnership with South Fulham Primary Care Network, Béa will provide direct access to fertility treatment in primary care for the first time.
From July, GPs at South Fulham PCN will be able to refer patients seeking fertility support to Béa Fertility, expanding the fertility services and support offered through the PCN’s Women’s Health Hub, says the company.
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/femtech-firm-bea-fertility-bags-2-9m/
