The recent decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade leaves plenty of unanswered questions about conception and what rights women have over their bodies. One startup, Posterity Health, is focusing on a long-overlooked part of the equation. It’s a digital male fertility platform that offers personalized advice, educational resources, and treatments to help address male fertility needs, and it just raised a $6 million seed funding led by Distributed Ventures.
While there are a number of diagnostic companies currently offering at-home semen analysis, Posterity Health is a virtual center focused on male fertility that provides personalized care for every male trying to conceive, the chief executive officer of Posterity Health Pam Pure told TechCrunch.
“Infertility testing has traditionally relied on a female-first approach, leaving male infertility largely ignored,” said Barrett Cowan, co-founder and chief medical officer of Posterity Health. “That being said, in reality, in half of all cases where couples are having trouble becoming pregnant, male infertility is a contributing factor.”
Pure co-founded Posterity Health with her husband Cowan, following their careers as a health tech executive and male fertility specialist, respectively. With fertility testing traditionally heavily focused on the female component, they recognized how under-considered the male was and the general lack of education on males’ important role in the conception process. Pure told TechCrunch that one out of every eight couples has trouble conceiving, and in more than 50% of cases, a male fertility factor is involved.
Posterity wants to continue educating people on the importance of male fertility testing and help people understand that male conditions can be treated and optimized, providing additional treatment options to couples struggling to conceive, according to Pure.
Posterity helps with a male fertility assessment and a treatment plan to optimize sperm quality via its telehealth platform Male Factor Management, which provides virtual visits, at-home diagnostics and in-person consults. The startup’s services include baseline assessments, sperm preservation, semen analysis, pregnancy loss consults, diagnostic workups, vasectomy reversals and gender-affirming care.
Posterity’s differentiators are that it provides the education and engagement incorporated in its digital platform or at-home diagnostic testing, Pure noted.
The company will use the latest funding to scale to treat male patients across the United States, where the service launched in Colorado, Pure said. It also intends to expand its services, grow its team of specialty-trained physicians and establish partnerships, Pure added. It currently provides care in 26 states and has a team of 15 people.
Posterity Health says its team consists of reproductive urologists who work directly with OB/GYNs, fertility centers and fertility benefit managers to bring an integrated at-home care solution focused solely on male fertility testing and treatment.
“This is a critical time for couples suffering from infertility issues, especially considering the recent decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade, which leaves many unanswered questions about how this will impact the fertility process,” Pure said.
Several digital healthcare executives, including CEO of Merative Gerry McCarthy, Amazon’s former senior vice president of Health Solution Laurie McGraw and Don Holzworth, serial entrepreneur and chairman of the advisory board at the UNC Gilling School of Public Health, also participated in the latest round. The company declined to comment on its valuation.
“Posterity Health focuses on the male component of infertility, which has historically been under-addressed,” said Shawn Ellis, managing partner at Distributed Ventures. “With Posterity Health, couples benefit from a more inclusive, balanced, and comprehensive fertility journey, which can expedite the path to pregnancy.”