When accounting for IVF, genetic testing, donor services, and reproductive tissue storage, the fertility market in the US is estimated to be in excess of $8B. One in six struggle to conceive and the journey can be isolating and lonely with feelings of panic and anxiety, especially when often the only other person you can confide in is your partner. Conceive is a digital health platform that provides a community-based holistic approach to fertility. The company’s signature offering is structured as an 8-week tailored program that included a peer support community, educational resources that include both Eastern and Western medicine approaches, and one-on-one coaching that costs $549. The company recently emerged out of private beta where 54% of participants became pregnant, 36% learned of new diagnoses that may be impacting their ability to get pregnant, and 90% expressed being supported. Initially, the focus is on conception with plans to expand into managing the fertility journeys of men and the LGBTQ+ community as well as egg freezing, donation and surrogacy, and conceiving after loss.
AlleyWatch caught up with Conceive CEO and Cofounder Lauren Berson to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
We raised a $3.7M Seed round led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from Founder Collective, Great Oaks, and 40+ founders and angels to transform fertility. Our majority female and 42% BIPOC cap table includes the founders of Natalist, Tia, Forward, Cityblock, Pillpack, HumanFirst, Dia&Co, along with the deep expertise from Inception Fertility, Spring Fertility, Overture, Alife, and many more.
Tell us about the product or service that Conceive offers.
Conceive is a digital health platform on a mission to transform fertility. We offer an integrated solution that aims to help you get pregnant faster, reduce costs, and uncover diagnoses.
We combine three key elements—cohort-based community, evidence-based education, and 1:1 coaching—in a personalized program that helps members navigate and accelerate their fertility journeys. With a hand-picked 10-person group and coach, members feel supported in a safe and relevant space.
What inspired the start of Conceive?
After decades building communities and products, and the last two years spent helping WW (formerly Weight Watchers) scale beyond just weight loss, I came upon my own years-long struggle with infertility. I realized quickly that there were few companies solving my needs and became obsessed with this problem. I spoke with hundreds of patients and providers throughout my journey and noticed quickly how similar the need sets were to weight loss – namely, “help me navigate this journey and prepare me for an upcoming treatment”, and “help me not feel alone”. But unlike weight loss, you don’t have to change behavior. There is no human more motivated than those who want to build a family. When I looked at the products out there, they were either point solutions – solving one aspect of the problem – or cookie-cutter solutions that weren’t accounting for the highly personalized nature of these journeys. I knew there was a better way. Conceive is the solution I wish I had.
How is Conceive different?
Conceive is an integrated and highly-personalized solution that combines cohort-based community (small crews of 10, hand-picked for you, based on where you are in your journey), evidence-based education (in digestible, bite-sized formats), and a coach (peer + clinical). Our mission is to change outcomes – namely getting people pregnant faster, uncovering diagnoses, and reducing costs.
We are consciously direct-to-consumer to start as we want to democratize access to good information and community support – and don’t want members to have to be lucky enough to get this benefit through their employer.
What market does Conceive target and how big is it?
Conceive targets everyone from those curious about their fertility, to those struggling to conceive. This includes women, men, LGBTQ+. As infertility is not just a women’s health issue. It’s a human health issue.
1 in 6 struggle to conceive. And most are getting curious even prior to this; contrary to popular belief, getting pregnant is only a 22% change per month in your 20s – and continues to decline.
What’s your business model?
We charge $549 for our 8-week program and plan to roll out subscription services soon.
What are your post-COVID office plans?
We are a fully remote company with employees in the United States.
What was the funding process like?
I’m grateful on the whole it was a quick and straightforward process. Our round was oversubscribed and our cap table is a dream. Yet, it’s still tremendously stressful and despite being privileged in many ways – I worked at a VC and know many people – we still got a bunch of no’s and I had to get a crash course in FOMO/ pattern matching operation that VC can be. I’m committed to paying it forward and will hold monthly office hours to help underserved founders with the process.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
While infertility is a health problem that affects men and women at equal rates, some investors saw us as a niche business with a small total addressable market (as if women alone are a small TAM!). There’s still a lot of pattern matching in VC.
It probably goes without saying but I am a solo female founder. Female founders still get less than 2% of venture capital funding. Solo founders – probably even less. I’m grateful to the many amazing entrepreneurs that have started to change the narrative and understanding of businesses tackling these problems, such as Kate Ryder (Maven Clinic) and our investors Halle Tecco (Natalist), and Carolyn Witte (Tia).
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
On the whole, it feels like everyone around us has an infertility story and sees the gaps in the ecosystem, where needs aren’t being served. Our vision to actually create a business model focused on outcomes set us apart with investors. This space has a ton of point solutions that tackle one slice of the puzzle. Our ambitions, while bold, differentiated us from the rest.
On the whole, it feels like everyone around us has an infertility story and sees the gaps in the ecosystem, where needs aren’t being served. Our vision to actually create a business model focused on outcomes set us apart with investors. This space has a ton of point solutions that tackle one slice of the puzzle. Our ambitions, while bold, differentiated us from the rest.
And in a very non-obvious way, everything in my life has led me to build this company. One could say I have “founder-market fit”. And it’s my life’s work. My passion, and decades of building communities and scaling products made this a straightforward process.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
In a short period of time, we were able to change outcomes for the majority of our members – 54% were pregnant after our program and an additional 36% found out about diagnoses because of our program. And 90% felt very supported in their journey by the end. We look forward to scaling this to more members, and continuing to serve their needs in a personalized, holistic way.
We are also laser-focused on making sure we continue to live our values as we build out the team.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
First, I’d ask whether you need it! If so, get as close to your customers as possible. If you really, deeply understand their need sets and how the overall ecosystem meets their needs – or doesn’t – you will find a way to win with investors. Also, finding early believers who you can stress test messaging with is of tremendous value.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
We’re proud of our early results and hope to continue to scale this to more members, building out relevant products for each customer cohort. We also plan to hire at least 5 more full-time team members, dozens of coaches, and work with a broader pool of providers and clinics.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
Pastis! So glad it’s back. Also loving Nami Nori – especially for an outdoor lunchtime situation.
