Ava gets acquired by FemTec Health
The medtech Zurich-based startup advancing women's health announced being acquired by Houston-based FemTech Health. Ava is a Venture Kick, Venture Leaders Technology, and China alumni and was elected among the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award 5 years in a row.
The buyer is the US company Femtec Health based in Houston, Texas, with branches around the world. After the purchase, the Ava office in Zurich will become the Swiss headquarters of the Americans. They will maintain other locations in Europe in London, Barcelona, and Athens. The purchase price remains under wraps but should be significant given Ava's capitalization.HSG spin-off founded in Switzerland in 2014 by Pascal Koenig, Philipp Tholen, Peter Stein, and Lea von Bidder, Ava specializes in new developments in the field of medical technology related to reproductive health. Ava was voted startup of the year in Switzerland in both 2017 and 2018 and won the Swiss Medtech Award in 2018. Backed by rigorous clinical trials, Ava has helped over 70,000 women get pregnant. Bringing together AI and clinical science, Ava's FDA-cleared fertility platform is proven to help women conceive faster—reducing frustration and the need for costly, invasive fertility treatments.
FemTec Health and Ava share a vision for defragmenting healthcare and providing comprehensive support during every stage of a woman's life. Through its Awesome Woman holistic health program, FemTec integrates what research shows women want: at-home tests and monitoring, personalized services and wellness products, and on-demand medical support—all delivered through monthly subscriptions either directly to consumers or as part of an employer's health benefit plan. Currently, Awesome Woman offers subscriptions for urinary and vaginal health, hormone balance, sexual wellness, wellness and prevention, beauty, and now reproductive health.
"What Lea and the Ava team have built is truly innovative. We are excited to add the leader in reproductive health to our portfolio and onto our team," said Dr. Kimon Angelides, FemTec Health founder and CEO. "From fertility to contraception, pregnancy support, menopause management, and personalized health insights, Ava's technology is a great addition to make it even easier for women within the FemTec Health platform to take control of their health, all while keeping their data and personal health information one hundred percent private and secure."
Ava's cycle-tracking technology and machine-learning algorithms offer support beyond fertility, with potential applications in family planning, sleep and fitness, prescription medications, and stages of a woman's life besides just reproduction. "Ava's vision has always been to be a companion to women along every stage of their lives. With Ava's female health AI integrated into FemTec's care platform, women will finally have access to a fully continuous health journey," said Lea von Bidder, Ava co-founder and CEO. "We are excited to join FemTec in building continuous support for women from puberty to menopause."
After the integration is complete, existing Ava users and Awesome Woman subscribers will have access to both companies' holistic offerings: Ava's at-home fertility monitoring, data-driven health insights, week-by-week pregnancy information, and community resources as well as Awesome Woman's on-demand telehealth services, at-home diagnostics, monthly subscription boxes, wellness products, prescription delivery, educational content, and stress management tools. Angelides stressed, "Privacy is paramount. We will never lose sight of women's autonomy and right to privacy as we build this new healthcare experience."
Ava AG is the latest acquisition by FemTec Health. Last fall, the company announced its purchase of Birchbox, the original monthly beauty box, Mira Beauty, which uses AI to match consumers with personalized cosmetics, and Liquid Grids, a social health intelligence company with over 1.25 million online community members. Additional acquisitions to round out the Awesome Woman offering are expected to be announced soon.
The Ava bracelet is the firm's first product for the consumer market and uses state-of-the-art sensor technology together with clinically proven methods to pinpoint a woman's fertile days in real-time. Ava has received USD 42.6 million of funding to date and is based in Zürich, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Makati, and employs around 70 people worldwide.
The Ava bracelet is the firm's first product for the consumer market and uses state-of-the-art sensor technology together with clinically proven methods to pinpoint a woman's fertile days in real-time. Ava has received USD 42.6 million of funding to date and is based in Zürich, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Makati, and employs around 70 people worldwide.
In 2015, Ava won Venture Kick stage 3, participated in Venture Leaders Technology, and won the W.A de Vigier award. The year after, they went to China with the Venture Leaders China, and in 2017 participated in the Swisscom Startup Challenge.
From 2015 to 2019, they were among the top places in the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Award, even winning first place in 2017 and 2018.
In 2021, they were among the TOP 100 Scale-Ups.
Source: FemTec Health Press Release
