- Hormone tracker company Inne announced recently that it raised €8 million in Series A funding led by Blossom Capital.
Inne — a hormone tracker company that empowers women to decode their bodies through the use of technology — announced recently that it raised €8 million in Series A funding led by Blossom Capital. Monkfish Equity joined this round along with angel investors Taavet Hinrikus (co-founder of TransferWise), Tom Stafford (managing partner at DST), and Rolf Schromgens (Trivago co-founder).
Launched in 2017 by Eirini Rapti — who was motivated by her desire to use natural contraception only to realize that traditional natural fertility methods were unreliable — Inne aims to use technology to enable all women to have a greater understanding of their bodies and take control of contraceptive choices.
“It’s hard to go a day without reading headlines about young women and their fertility. Women want to know more about their bodies and how to control their reproductive health. They may have concerns about when is the right time to start a family or they may already have decided that they don’t want to take hormones because of the side effects they experience. Many women feel that the current options do not meet their needs,” said Rapti. “I want women to start tuning into their hormones early so they understand more about their bodies. Most women only think about their fertility when they are trying to conceive and this becomes highly stressful and counter-productive. However, if you have an insight into how your body works from an earlier age, you can understand how to give yourself the best chance at starting a family at a time that’s right for you.”
Rapti developed a saliva biosensor device that enables women to identify and predict the fertile phase in their natural cycle. This technology is based on her own experience and through multiple user interviews. And Rapti realized that a new product had to be compatible with a busy daily life and it must be simple and hygienic to use. Plus it had to be more insightful than the period-tracking apps already on the market.
So Rapti put together a cross-functional team of scientists, designers, and engineers who developed the biosensor and reader along with a connected app. The device is going to be available later this year as it achieved medical certification in Europe.
“Inne has a winning combination of scientific validity plus usability that can enable women to better understand their bodies at all stages in their lives. What really impressed us is the team’s meticulous focus on design and ease-of-use together with the scientific validity and clear ambition to impact women all over the world. We are very excited to join Eirini and her extraordinary team on the next stage of their journey,” added Blossom Capital partner Louise Samet.
With this funding round, Inne is going to expand its team — drawn from all corners of Europe. And the new hires will include software engineers, design, and operations members.
“We’ve been watching the way Eirini has put together a very impressive team and her meticulous approach to developing the product and the business model. Women are downloading period tracking apps but these lack any real insight or value for their users. Inne analyses the data it collects and makes it meaningful and useful. Enabling birth control without chemicals is a huge step forward for women all over the world,” explained Shortcut Ventures founder Dirk Freise.
