Thanks to the rise of social media, we are inundated with posts about our friends’ and family’s success in getting pregnant. However, those baby photos obscure a bleak truth: one in six couples experience an “unwanted delay in conception.” Those couples struggle to conceive when they begin trying to get pregnant. Only about 30% of couples are able to conceive in their first month of trying. 

In fact, fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) are more common than ever. The use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) has doubled over the past decade. Over 30% of American adults have used fertility treatments or know someone that has. IVF is becoming so common that employees increasingly demand that it be covered as a benefit through their employer. 

However, accessing fertility treatments is not easy. The average cost of one cycle of IVF in the United States is over $10,000. Most couples pay this fee out of pocket, as many insurance plans don’t cover IVF. However, the chance of success for a single cycle is only 21.3 percent, so many couples must pay for several cycles before having a baby. 

Beyond cost, IVF is an invasive procedure that requires drug treatments and many visits to doctor’s offices. The nature of IVF makes it further inaccessible to those with medical conditions that are sensitive to the procedure and drugs used and to those who can’t take time off to attend numerous appointments. 

Economists and medical professionals have signaled a global fertility crisis. Yet it is extremely difficult for couples to have a baby if their initial attempts at conception are unsuccessful. This issue is simultaneously devastating to young families and problematic for our entire society.

Millennial Fertility Company is introducing a new fertility solution that is designed to be the “first step” toward conception. The company’s First Step Conception Kit offers an affordable, quick, and drug-free solution for couples seeking to conceive a child. 

When Millennial Fertility launches the First Step kit, couples will be able to purchase it for $99. The kit includes eight ovulation predictors, one patented collection cap and semen collector, and one pregnancy test. Couples collect semen via intimacy and then place the semen-filled collection cap against the woman’s cervix for 3-5 hours. This method of fertility assistance is dramatically easier than seeking expensive, invasive, and time-consuming IVF treatments. 

The First Step Conception Kit is not intended as a replacement for IVF. Millennial Fertility Company is providing couples with a “first step” solution to fertility challenges before they seek full infertility treatment via their medical provider. Couples who are struggling to get pregnant without any assistance can use the First Step kit as a last-ditch effort before beginning IVF. Couples with no known fertility challenges can also use the kit to better guarantee their chance of pregnancy when they begin the conception journey. 

Millennial Fertility is the subsidiary of a parent pharmaceutical company, Conceivex. Conceivex has already secured FDA clearance for a prescription version of the patented cervical cap technology, as well as associated instructions and packaging language. Conecivex subsequently transferred that intellectual property to Millennial Fertility, which is working to seek FDA approval for an over-the-counter kit. Millennial Fertility plans to use the same submission documents for the prescription kit in their over-the-counter FDA application, which they anticipate will streamline the clearance process. The company is also prepared with manufacturing, kitting, branding, and marketing partners to launch quickly upon FDA clearance. 

Millennial Fertility plans to sell the First Step Conception Kit primarily via e-commerce. The company believes that a DTC conception kit is unique to the market. They believe it will be an attractive and affordable option for the millions of households who can’t afford expensive IVF treatments. In the future, the company plans to consider subscription services for the purchase of multiple kits, a referral program, and the potential for white-labeled sales through brick and mortar retail locations. 

Millennial Fertility Company is led by four senior business and healthcare executives. The company’s chairman, Harry Cendrowski, has 30 years of business and accounting experience and heads his own corporate consulting and accounting firms. Board member Michael Rosen is the Managing Director of Rosen Biosciences Strategis, a life science economic development consultancy. He also serves on the board of the Center for Healthcare Innovation. 

Millennial Fertility’s Director of Business Development, Mike Bock, has over 30 years of healthcare experience in product marketing, sales operations, production, and more. The company is advised by Dr. Gaylen Kelton, a clinically-active hospital medicine specialist and emeritus faculty member at the Indiana University School of Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine. He has delivered over 1,000 babies over the course of his career. 

The most urgent milestone on Millennial Fertility’s roadmap is gaining FDA clearance for an over-the-counter version of the First Step Conception Kit. After securing clearance, the company is poised to begin manufacturing the product and developing a marketing engine through its website. Large portions of capital raised during this offering will be devoted to inventory, marketing, and advertising as well as compensation for the company’s managers. 

After launching DTC sales of the First Step Conception Kit, Millennial Fertility plans to explore additional revenue teams like subscription plans, referrals, and white-labeled products sold at partner retailers.

• A unique solution in an active market: Fertility is an increasingly common topic of conversation among millennial women, and a number of high-profile startups are addressing barriers to infertility treatments. Millennial Fertility Company benefits from the buzz of this space, but it differentiates by offering a different kind of product. The First Step Conception Kit is low-cost and at-home, as opposed to streamlined IVF services that still cost thousands of dollars and run through doctor’s offices. If Millennial Fertility is successful in offering a patented do-it-yourself fertility option, it could capture significant value from the $36 billion global fertility market.

• Patented product with FDA clearance: Medical technology companies are notoriously risky to invest in given the capricious nature of FDA clearance. However, Millennial Fertility has already secured FDA clearance for a prescription version of the same product present in the First Step Conception Kit. They anticipate that gaining clearance for the over-the-counter version will be straightforward. While the product is not fully cleared for DTC sales yet, Millennial Fertility is ahead of many companies with partial FDA clearance and a patent on its collection cap design. 
  

Millennial Fertility Company is making the extremely complex fertility process much easier with its at-home First Step Conception Kit. Couples can pay just $99 for a simple, drug-free option to increase their chances of pregnancy. This solution is unique even among the booming landscape of fertility startups because it offers a “first step” alternative to IVF. Moreover, the company holds a patent on its product design and has already gained partial FDA clearance for a prescription version of the kit. 

However, Millennial Fertility is still pre-launch and must gain full FDA clearance to begin selling First Step Conception Kits. Pre-launch startups are inherently riskier to invest in than those with demonstrated customer and revenue traction given the lack of information about the product’s success in the market. Prospective investors should also note that while Millennial Fertility’s executive team is experienced in traditional business and healthcare, the team lacks a consumer marketing specialist. That position will be crucial to build a brand that is attractive to millennial purchasers who are used to trusting brands like Warby Parker and Allbirds. Moreover, the Millennial Fertility team is currently composed of older men, who may lack the consumer perspective necessary to market to millennial women. 

If Millennial Fertility can successfully leap these hurdles, its chances of growth (and investors’ chances of returns) are good given current intense interest in the fertility market. Startups like Modern Fertility, EverlyWell, Dadi, and KindBody have received sizable venture capital investment and are raising awareness about fertility challenges among millennials. Modern fertility services is a relatively new market that has little in the way of exit proof, but Millennial Fertility could conceivably be acquired by one of these larger fertility startups or (though less likely) become a smashing success that IPOs as the leader for at-home fertility. 

Millennial Fertility is providing a critical service to young couples hoping to welcome a child into their family. Its product is uniquely suited to make fertility assistance more accessible to Americans with lower incomes or less access to doctor’s offices. This brand promise combined with the company’s intellectual property progress makes Millennial Fertility a Deal to Watch.