Distributed Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in Insurtech, Healthtech and Fintech investments, recently announced that it has led a $6 million seed Series investment in Posterity Health, which claims to be the only digital male fertility center of excellence that “offers personalized advice, educational resources, and effective treatments to help address male fertility needs.”
Digital healthcare executives also participated in the investment round, “including Gerry McCarthy, CEO of Merative , Laurie McGraw, former SVP of Health Solutions at the AMA, and Don Holzworth, serial entrepreneur and Chairman of the Advisory Board at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health.”
Shawn Ellis, Managing Partner at Distributed Ventures, said:
“Our fund is committed to backing pioneering health and benefits innovators that yield improved experiences and outcomes, while broadly eliminating the cost and inefficiencies that health consumers often face. Posterity Health focuses on the male component of infertility, which has historically been under addressed. With Posterity Health, couples benefit from a more inclusive, balanced, and comprehensive fertility journey, which can expedite the path to pregnancy.”
Posterity Health’s team of male fertility specialists that is made up of reproductive urologists work directly “with OBGYNs, fertility centers and fertility benefit managers to bring a holistic, integrated, at-home care solution focused solely on male fertility testing and treatment.”
The Posterity Health care protocols are “developed in conjunction with the Medical Advisory Board, which consists of the top male fertility leaders in the country, including Dr. Peter Schlegel, James J Colt Professor of Urology at Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. James Smith, the Director of the Male Reproductive Health Center at USCF and Dr. Stan Honig, the Director of Men’s Health at Yale University.”
Barrett Cowan, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Posterity Health, remarked:
“Infertility testing has traditionally relied on a female-first approach, leaving male infertility largely ignored. That being said in reality half of all cases where couples are having trouble becoming pregnant, male infertility is a contributing factor.”
The company’s Male Factor Management Platform “offers a combination of virtual visits, at-home diagnostics and in-person consults to help assess and improve patients’ fertility status.”
Services reportedly “include baseline assessments, sperm preservation, semen analysis, pregnancy loss consults, diagnostic workups, vasectomy reversals and gender affirming care.”
Pam Pure, Chief Executive Officer of Posterity Health, remarked:
“This funding will allow us to scale significantly and as a result treat many more male patients across the US, shifting the burden of care from the female to provide an integrated couples treatment plan. We are looking forward to expanding our services, increasing our team of specialty trained physicians, and establishing more partnerships across the industry.”
Pure continued:
“Our technology helps open doors for male infertility when not only it is often overlooked, but as many men experience a stigma around having to seek care for their infertility issues. At Posterity Health we have brought together the best male fertility specialists in the world while offering a technology platform that allows patients to receive care from the comfort and privacy of their own home.”
As noted in the update shared with CI, Distributed Ventures is a Seed to Series B focused fund that “invests in entrepreneurs as they transform the future of risk across Fintech, Insurtech, and Digital Health and Benefits.”
As former founders, investors, and operators, the Distributed Ventures team “provides deep subject matter and early-stage operational expertise to help companies find success from day one.”
Distributed Ventures was “born out of NFP Ventures with the goal of helping entrepreneurs demonstrate product-market fit and accelerate commercial traction via diverse distribution channels.”