Contraception app raises US$55m to ‘fill gaps’ in women’s health

The contraception app Natural Cycles has secured US$55m in funding to “fill the gaps” in underserved areas of women’s health.

Natural Cycles is the first direct-to-consumer contraceptive app that aims to help women plan or prevent a pregnancy “naturally” through an algorithm that analyses daily hormone-driven temperature changes to confirm if the user is fertile.

The app remains the only digital form of birth control on the market cleared by regulators in the US, Europe, Canada, Australia, Singapore and South Korea.

The US$55m funding round, led by Lauxera Capital Partners with participation from Point72 Private Investments and a revolving debt facility from J.P. Morgan, is hoped to help the Stockholm-based company invest in commercial acceleration, product development and healthcare reimbursement automation.

“We’ve experienced profitable growth over the last few years as women actively seek more birth control options and we’re excited to welcome the next phase of Natural Cycles journey together with Lauxera Capital Partners and Point72 Private Investments,” said Dr Raoul Scherwitzl, co-founder and CEO of Natural Cycles.

“We look forward to leveraging their expertise to fulfil Natural Cycles’ mission of making hormone-free birth control more accessible and combining technology and science to fill the gaps in underserved areas of women’s health.”

Samuel Levy, founding partner of Lauxera Capital Partners, added: “Our mission at Lauxera is to partner with ambitious entrepreneurs transforming the future of medicine with unique technology.

“The visionary Natural Cycles team has built an exceptional company delivering profitable growth supported by unique clinical and regulatory business moats.

“We are delighted to partner with Elina, Raoul and their team to offer women an alternative to traditional approaches without the side effects and compromises.”

As part of the investment, Levy will join Natural Cycles’ board of directors.

Lauxera Capital Partners and Point72 Private Investments join Natural Cycles’ current investors, including EQT Ventures, Samsung Ventures, Heartcore Capital, Headline and Bonnier Ventures.