- Fertility rates are declining, with those trying for children often needing access to reproductive tech.
- That is fueling interest in new startups offering IVF, egg and sperm freezing, and contraception.
- Insider spoke to seven VCs who named the top startups innovating reproductive and fertility services.
In May 2023, the first baby created with DNA from three people was born in the UK.
The goal behind this breakthrough process was a bid to prevent incurable diseases among children by targeting gene mutations. It comes just eight years after the law was changed in the UK to allow the procedure — and seven years after the first birth of this kind happened in Mexico.
One in six people globally experience fertility issues, per estimates from the World Health Organization.
That’s fueled demand in new technologies that can help people conceive, and a commensurate explosion of venture capital into the area.
“It’s not a secret that people are having babies later in life,” said Camila Caso, previously a director of platform at Recharge Capital. “By 2050, around 50% of couples will use some sort of artificial technology to have a baby, by choice.”
Startups operating in the sector offer everything from IVF and egg- and sperm-freezing services, to pregnancy care, fertility consultations, and family-planning treatments.
“While it is difficult to pin just one number to the size of Europe’s reproductive and fertility tech sector, there has definitely been significant growth across the market,” said Sasha Astafyeva, partner at Atomico.
In 2021, investors poured a record $3.76 billion into reproductive tech startups globally, per Pitchbook data. In 2022, this tapered to $1.61 billion, in keeping with a broader decline in startup funding. In 2023 so far, startups have cinched $623 million.
Examples include Peter Thiel-backed TMRW, which has designed a robotics tool to automate egg freezing. This year, Kindbody — which has set up tech-enabled clinics for fertility and gynecology — raised $100 million at a valuation of $1.8 billion.
Investors also see an opportunity in startups that can offer services that are difficult to access in the US after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Founders in the fertility industry are embracing this shift and setting up shop outside of the US, especially in Europe and Asia, Caso said.
Insider asked seven VCs about the reproductive and fertility technology startups set to take off. Here’s the list, in alphabetical order.
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