- GeneralM&A
- May 19, 2021
- 5 minutes read
Deal: Ro Buys Femtech Startup Modern Fertility
Ro, a telehealth company famously known for its Roman brand of erectile dysfunction and hair loss medication, has made a major…
Ro, a telehealth company famously known for its Roman brand of erectile dysfunction and hair loss medication, has made a major acquisition in the women’s health care technology space. That acquisition is Modern Fertility, a startup offering FDA-approved at-home fertility hormone test kits for women.
- Ro has announced that it’s bought Modern Fertility but didn’t disclose the purchase price. A New York Times report however places the price at more than $225mn, citing unnamed “people with knowledge of the acquisition”.
- Buying Modern Fertility is a major strategic play for Ro as it moves to expand its health-tech business. Just like Modern, Ro is a relatively young startup in the telehealth industry. A difference is that it grew much more faster on the backs of big venture funding, spending big to build a solid direct-to-consumer health business.
- Ro offers medications for ailments such as hair loss and erectile dysfunction via its Roman men-focused health brand and genital herpes and cold sores with its Rory women-focused brand. In addition, it has brands like Zero for smoking cessation and Plenty for weight loss.
- Along with its brands, Ro more broadly offers an online pharmacy with stocked medications from many providers and also a telehealth platform connecting patients to doctors on the web. To that end, Modern Fertility is a major new addition to its family of brands.
- Modern Fertility offers FDA-approved fertility hormone test kits for women admissible at home. It was founded in 2017 (the same year as Ro) with its flagship product: a $159 finger prick test estimating how many eggs a woman may have left to help determine suitable fertility options.
- Modern Fertility is backed by $22mn in venture funding with notable investors including SV Angel and Away co-founder Steph Korey. With its sale to Ro carrying a reported $225mn price tag, it seems like a very successful exit for the company.
- With Modern now under Ro, its co-founders Afton Vechery and Carly Leahy are taking executive roles at the company with Vechery as President of Women’s Health and Carly as Vice President of Brand, Women’s Health.
- Ro is a venture-backed privately-held company. It was valued at $5bn from its last funding round of $500mn this March. Altogether, it’s raised nearly a billion dollars in funding.
