Fertility care and benefits provider Kindbody raises $100M

The company operates over 30 clinics, and offers an employee fertility benefit solution

Kindbody is a company that was founded to fix the fragmented, inequitable, expensive, and inaccessible fertility space in the U.S.. The company's mission was to create an end-to-end solution for women's health by offering fertility, gynecology, and wellness services in tech-enabled clinics, along with an employee fertility benefit solution.

The company has been growing fast: in the last year, it added 42 large employer clients, including Walmart, and it bought Vios Fertility Institute, which allowed it to more than double its national clinic footprint, while also turning it into the second femtech company to gain unicorn status, after Maven, a provider of virtual care for women and families, raised $110 million for a $1 billion valuation in 2021.

On Thursday, the company added more money to its coffers, announcing a $100 million round of funding from Perceptive Advisors, a life sciences investment firm. This brings its total equity and debt funding to more than $290 million, and its valuation to $1.8 billion. 

The company, which was founded by Joanne Schneider, who has since gone on to found maternity startup Oula, and Gina Bartasi, the founder and former CEO at fertility benefits company Progyny, offers a suite of services at its tech-enabled clinics, including fertility consultation, egg freezing, IVF, IUI, donor services, embryo banking, and embryo storage. Additionally, it offers coaching appointments such as nutrition counseling and therapy sessions.  

The company launched its first clinic in August of 2018 in New York City, and it now owns and operates 31 clinics nationwide in markets that include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Arkansas, Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Portland, Princeton, Silicon Valley, St. Louis, Washington, D.C, while also offering virtual visits. It plans to open another ten clinics in the coming year, including in Bethesda and Newport Beach. 

In 2019, Kindbody launched its employer solution, allowing self-insured employers to purchase fertility benefits directly; as the direct provider of clinical care, Kindbody says it "is uniquely positioned to provide a seamless continuum of care, decrease cost, improve patient experience, and deliver better health outcomes." So far, it has been able to save employers them 25% to 30% by contracting directly with them. Currently, Kindbody today is the fertility benefits provider for 112 companies, covering more than 2.4 million lives.

The company also made made three acquisitions in 2022, including Vios, as well as genomics company Phosphorus Labs, adding genetic testing and carrier screening to its end-to-end care delivery model; and Alternative Reproductive Resources, a gestational surrogacy agency.

Going forward, the company plans to use the funding to sharpen its operations, make strategic acquisitions, and maintain its focus on profitable growth. 

"Infertility is widespread, more common than diseases like cancer or diabetes. Yet, for far too long, high-quality fertility care has been available to only a privileged few," said Bartasi in a statement. 

"With the support of Perceptive Advisors, and our other investors, Kindbody is positioned to deliver on our vision to help everyone realize their dream of becoming a parent by making high-quality fertility care affordable and accessible for all."