Ava Raises $30 Million for Fertility Tracking Wristband
*By Christian Smith*
Ava, the medtech company that makes wristbands for women tracking their fertility, announced Wednesday that it raised $30 million in Series B funding, money its co-founder said would be used to continue the company's research.
"Women's health and women's health research has been underfunded for the last decade," Lea von Bidder, Ava's co-founder, said in an interview with Cheddar. "We want to do a lot of research in different fields of women's health ー be it pregnancy monitoring, be it contraception, be it menopause ーand hope to give women insights about their body and health."
Ava conducts its research through clinical trials with the University Hospital of Zurich, where the company was founded in 2014.
Its wearable tracker is like a Fitbit for fertility, monitoring nine physiological metrics including heart and breathing rates, skin temperature, and heat loss to determine a woman's fertility cycle. Von Bidder said the company's research shows that the device is 89 percent accurate in predicting the 5.3 fertile days in a woman's cycle. In addition to the tracker, Ava also offers an app, which tracks a woman's health during her pregnancy.
So far, 10,000 babies have been born to mothers using the Ava tracker, the company announced on Wednesday.
Ava's founder said they want to offer contraception and family-planning products, too, but the company doesn't have a time frame for these types of products.
"Ava at this point is not a contraceptive yet," von Bidden said. "We are working really hard on making that happen."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/fertility-tracking-company-ava-raises-30-million-in-series-b-funding-round).
Lab-created diamonds come with sparkling claims: that they are ethically made by machines running on renewable energy. But many don't live up to these claims or don't respond to questions about their electricity sources, and lab diamonds require a lot of electricity.
Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel association, explains why other nations are outcompeting the U.S., and the innovations that would put American back on top.
Tony Drake, founder of Drake & Associates, breaks down the latest CPI report, why ‘inflation is still trending down,’ and why the Fed doesn’t want to cut rates too soon.
Make sure your love don't cost a thing this Valentine's Day to any scammers. Note: we're not talking about your partner that didn't do the dishes after saying they would.
Landing founder and CEO Bill Smith shares how the company’s new Nomad pass and partnership with Frontier Airlines allows subscribers unlimited airfare and accommodations.
The pandemic yielded government financial support and (eventually) a surprisingly strong job market — but racial wealth disparities grew. Why is it so difficult to close the wealth gap?
Plenty of retailers and suppliers are reducing the variety of their offerings to focus instead on what they think will sell best. Many businesses have decided less is better, justifying their limited selection by asserting shoppers don’t want so much choice.
Joe Pompliano, author of the Huddle Up newsletter, breaks down the biggest moments from Super Bowl LVIII, from potentially record-breaking viewership to Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated appearance.
