Virtual fertility clinic Turtle Health raises $5M

The fertility space saw funding grow 35% in 2021, as the femtech space boomed

The femtech space is booming, having reached over $1 billion for the first time ever in 2021; within that, fertility startups, in particular, are getting more attention: last year these companie raised $345 million in venture capital, which was up 35% from $254 million in 2020. Funding has more than doubled since 2019, when fertility companies raised $133 million. 

The latest to get funded in this space is Turtle Health, a company that operates a virtual fertility counseling clinic. On Tuesday, the company raised a $5 million round of funding from Switch Ventures, Blue Seed Collective, NextGen Venture Partners, Mayo Clinic Ventures, and US Fertility, the parent company of IVF clinic Shady Grove, according to Axios.

Founded in 2019, the Boston-based company named itself Turtle Health because, as it notes on its website, "turtles have unique fertility journeys."

"They navigate 3,700 miles back to the beach they were born on to lay eggs. Turtle Health uses comprehensive testing and validated data to give you the tools you need to chart your own fertility journey," it says.

When a patient signs up for the service, which costs between $300 and $500, they can schedule a box delivery and an ultrasound online appointment. One of Turtle's techs will guide the patient on how to collect their blood sample, or semen sample if a male partner is testing; they then mail their box to Cleveland Clinic, after which they will receive their report, which will available online in two to three weeks. If they have questions, patients can request a counseling session with one of Turtle's fertility experts.

Turtle says it is able to identify up to 80% of fertility risks, including PCOS and fibroids.

A study of 56 women conducted by Turtle, and published in April in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, found that the company's technology was as good as an in-clinic TVS when it came to clinical-quality images and estimating a woman's supply of eggs. 

Turtle is not done fundraising, as it plans to raise its Series A sometime in the coming year.

The fertility space

As noted above, the fertility space is seeing a lot of funding, with some big players raising large rounds.

That includes Carrot Fertility, a fertility benefits company that raised a $75 million round; in-person and virtual care provider Tia, which raised $100 million; and Maven, a provider of virtual care for women and families, which raised $110 million for a $1 billion valuation last year, making it the first digital health unicorn in the femtech space, followed by another $90 million round in November of this year. 

This year some other companies that raised funding include Nodal, which calls itself a "Bumble for surrogacy," which raised $4.7 million in September; Frame Fertility, which launched with $2.8 million in April; Posterity Health, a company looking to expand access to male fertility services, which raised $6 million in July; Legacy, a sperm testing platform, which raised $25 million in May; and Future Family, a company making fertility financing easy and affordable, which raised $25 million in April.

VatorNews has reached out to Turtle Health for more information on the new funding round

(Image source: turtlehealth.com)