Tennessee-based Comma – a female-founded integrated period care company – recently announced the launch of its secure period tracking app called Sara, along with a $2 million seed funding round.
Following the rollback of Roe v. Wade and the recent shutdown of ReproductiveRights.gov, the future of reproductive health in America is riddled with concerns about data privacy and access. Comma is looking to set a new standard and provide users with safe, secure, and unbiased information about their health.
The company is utilizing the power of periods to bring predictive, personalized science to reproductive health through secure technology and sustainable consumer product goods. Led by a team of reproductive health and cyber security experts, Comma has spent the last two years innovating and developing technology and consumer products that put autonomy at the forefront.
Comma graduated from the Techstars Physical Health accelerator in 2023, and the Techstars venture fund followed in this latest funding round. More than 50% of Comma’s seed investors are women, which reflects the company’s commitment to prioritizing reproductive health by centering those most impacted at every level.
Along with this round of funding, Comma launches its flagship product Sara, which is a secure period tracking and disease detection app. Now available publicly, this platform helps users uncover patterns and concerns in their menstrual cycle, connecting them to relevant care partners and integrating them with the data and knowledge needed to take control of their reproductive health. After conducting user beta testing, the Comma team was able to further innovate several functionalities, including a secure pregnancy tracking mode that emerged as an end-user priority.
Since Comma believes that period data is just as much personal health information as clinical trial findings or laboratory test results, they’ve invested in industry-leading security and privacy protocols to keep user data within Sara as safe as possible. By looking to HIPAA and healthcare best practices, Sara is more than just a period tracking app: it’s a safe and secure dashboard for a user’s reproductive health. Sara was thoughtfully built as a progressive web app (PWA), meaning users access the dashboard through an internet browser rather than downloading it to their phone from an app store. This ensures that users’ metadata is never tracked, and all information is kept strictly private.
Beyond this technology, Comma has plans to transform reproductive health in a variety of ways, including building out the ability to use the menstrual blood in a tampon to screen for potential reproductive health complications and beyond. With two team members sitting on the ISO/TC 338, And Comma also plans to release the first-ever biodegradable single-use period product. Made with a compostable plant-based bio-resin applicator and 100% organic cotton, Comma is one step closer to changing menstrual healthcare for the better. In the future, Comma will launch its send-back diagnostics service, redirecting period products from the landfill to the lab to pioneer the use of menstrual blood biomarkers in healthcare.
KEY QUOTES:
“Comma is approaching menstrual health in a holistic way that hasn’t been done before in the consumer products and technology space. We’re proud to invest in a more secure, sustainable future through this partnership.”
- Trey Bowles, Managing Director of Techstars Physical Health
“People shouldn’t have to choose between a better understanding of their bodies and the threat of surveillance. That is why we built Comma with security and autonomy at the forefront. Even as policies restricting reproductive rights surface, we remain committed to protecting user data and building community. Consumers deserve better, period.”
- Miller Morris, M.A., M.P.H., founder and CEO of Comma
