About 10% of women say they or their partners have required medical support to become pregnant, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. But with a lack of insurance coverage, fertility treatment — which can cost more than $10,000 — is largely inaccessible.
Kindbody, after raking in $100 million, is working to expand access for fertility care to more Americans. The New York City-based company provides virtual, in-person and home-based care and sells to employers, insurers and directly to consumers. Its services include In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF), Egg Freezing, LGBTQ+ family building and gynecology.
Its funding, announced last week, was led by Perceptive Advisors. It brings the company’s total equity and debt funding to more than $290 million and its valuation to $1.8 billion. Other investors of the company include GV, RRE Ventures, Claritas Health Ventures, Rock Springs Capital, NFP Ventures and TQ Ventures.
Perceptive Advisors chose to invest in Kindbody because of its work in improving access to fertility treatment, said Sam Chawla, portfolio manager at Perceptive.
“Kindbody’s differentiated care delivery model, focused on exceptional patient experience and outcomes at a reduced cost for employers and patients, positions it to meet the urgent need for better fertility healthcare solutions, making Kindbody an attractive opportunity for us,” Chawla said.
With the funding, the company plans to open 10 new locations, including in Miami; Columbus, Ohio; Orange County; and Seattle. Kindbody has also hired a new chief financial officer and will continue growing its team, said Gina Bartasi, founder and chairwoman of Kindbody, in an interview.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The fertility company has already seen significant growth since it was founded in 2018. Last year, it acquired Vios Fertility Institute, a network of fertility clinics, which doubled its footprint. It currently has 31 clinics across the country.
Providing family planning benefits to employees is becoming more and more important for employers. That’s seen in Kindbody’s client growth in the last year: the company added 42 large employer clients, including Walmart. In total, it serves 112 companies and covers more than 2.4 million lives. Other customers include Tesla, Red Bull and Lyft.
“Fertility benefits have moved from a nice-to-have benefit to a must-have benefit,” Bartasi said.
There has been a lot of speculation of whether Kindbody will go public. But right now, the company is focused on being both EBITDA positive and cash flow positive, which Bartasi said are essential before an initial public offering.
Other companies that provide fertility services include Carrot Fertility, Progyny and Maven Clinic.
Photo: Natali_Mis, Getty Images
