A Parker startup that aims to expand access to male fertility care raised an extra $1.5 million in seed funding, bringing the round to $7.5 million, the founders announced Tuesday.
Posterity Health, a digital male fertility platform created by husband and wife Barrett Cowan and Pam Pure, raised $6 million in July to expand its platform to more states, as well as hire sales staff and further develop its technology. The round was oversubscribed, with two more investors adding another $1.5 million.
FCA Venture Partners and WVV Capital, both of which specialize in health technology startups, joined the round.
The seed round was led by New York-based Distributed Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund that focuses on health technology. Several digital health care executives also participated in the round, including Gerry McCarthy, CEO of Merative; Laurie McGraw, the former senior vice president of health solutions at the American Medical Association; and Don Holzworth, chairman of the advisory board at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health.
“This funding allows us to move one step closer to achieving our mission to provide access to male fertility care for every couple trying to conceive,” said Pure, CEO of Posterity Health.
Tom Hearn, a partner at FCA Venture Partners, said that encouraging male partners to be evaluated is the "pivotal next step" in fertility care. While experts suggest that both men and women be evaluated when facing problems with conception, there are few health care providers who specialize in male fertility.
Cowan, the chief medical officer for Posterity Health, is one of only about 200 reproductive urologists in the United States, according to the American Urological Association.
Posterity Health uses telehealth to assess male fertility, offer educational resources and treat patients. This digital method helps expand access to male fertility treatment to places where it would typically be unavailable. It also creates an easier pathway to care for men who otherwise wouldn't go into a physical clinic because of the stigma associated with male infertility, Cowan said.
While Posterity Health has a clinic for Colorado-based patients, most of their work is done through telehealth. Men can order an at-home assessment through the Posterity Health website. The assessment, which costs $199, includes a semen analysis, a telehealth consultation and personalized lifestyle recommendations.
As of July, the platform was licensed in 26 states, and the founders had plans to add 10 more states within the year. Pure said Tuesday that the expansion would double the number of reproductive urologists using the platform.
The startup's overarching goal is to make fertility a "couples issue," rather than placing the burden on women, Pure said.
"Every week we see women who are just devastated because they've been going through months of evaluations, and then we find out it's not their problem," Pure said. "It's never been more important to have males, who are 50% of the equation, understand their fertility better."
