Health and wellness startup 28 is heading to Miami Beach.
The company, which claims it can connect women with the hormonal phases of their menstrual cycle to improve physical and mental wellbeing, aims to hire 12 full-time employees over the next nine months, a representative told Miami Inno.
The startup's Miami Beach office opening comes a month after it raised $3.2 million in a seed funding round led by Thiel Capital, the investment firm founded by venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. The company declined to specify the address of the location.
28 offers free daily streaming exercises, nutrition profiles and lifestyle tips tailored to each user based on the four phases of their menstrual cycle. Each phase of that cycle brings results in hormonal fluctuations that can impact mood, energy levels and nutritional requirements.
Hormonal birth control is often prescribed to treat hormone-related issues, like painful periods, unrelated to contraception.
While medical professionals agree hormonal birth control is safe, it can cause side effects such as weight gain, headaches and mood changes. In some cases, it may increase a person's risk for heart attack, stroke, blood clots and some cancers.
"There's a major cultural shift happening, a new and powerful revolution as millions of young women ditch hormonal birth control due to the negative impact on their health," Co-founder Brittany Hugoboom said.
To get started, 28 users must input the first day of their last period. If for some reason the user is not menstruating (for example, because they are pregnant) the app recommends syncing to the lunar cycle, since it is roughly the same number of days as an average menstrual cycle.
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, sharing any kind of reproductive health information with a business could be concerning for some consumers.
In an email, co-founder and CEO Gabriel Hugoboom said 28 has "a steadfast commitment to never sell user cycle data to anyone for any reason and to never turn over user cycle data to any government or regulatory authority under any circumstance." The data is not shared with investors either, he added.
He confirmed the only cycle data 28 collects is the first day of the user's last period. That data can be changed or deleted by the user at any time, and the company does not store any deleted cycle data.
"Once the user deletes that information, it is gone forever," he said.
28 will eventually roll out additional period features, including the ability to custom cycle lengths for people who experience menstrual cycles that are longer or shorter than the average 28 days.
28 is among a wave of tech-enabled women's health care products hitting the market, sometimes described as "femtech." Right now, the market size for femtech ranges from $500 million to $1 billion and attracts about 3% of all digital health funding, McKinsey reports. In some cases, those ventures are filling gaps not addressed by traditional health care apps or providers, such as menstrual and maternal health support.
Brittany Hugoboom said the Miami area's reputation as an epicenter for health and wellness makes it a prime location for 28's headquarters. Now, it is working on developing a mobile app that will be available by the end of the year.
"Women have been stuck in the passenger seat of their own bodies, unaware of how their cycle really works or how their hormones impact everything from their skin to their weight, mental health, and menstruation," Hugoboom said. "28 puts them in the driver's seat."
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