News
Round up: funding for world’s first AI-powered IVF lab, and more
Femtech World explores the latest business and investment developments in the world of women’s health.
Funding supports US launch of world’s first AI-powered, automated IVF lab
Conceivable Life Sciences has raised US$50m to accelerate the development and commercialisation of the world’s first AI-powered automated IVF laboratory.
The funding will help to make the therapy more accessible, scalable and effective at delivering improved pregnancy results.
The Series A round brings Conceivable’s total funding to US$70m, including the company’s US$20m seed round, which closed in December 2022.
AURA utilises robotic precision and AI algorithms to remove variability and standardise more than 200 steps with the aim to deliver consistently successful IVF outcomes.
Conceivable is in active clinical operations and currently conducting a 100-patient pilot study.
The Series A funding will support Conceivable Life Sciences’s US debut next year, expanding its partnerships with fertility networks in 2026, marking the US commercial launch of the world’s first automated IVF lab.
“The fertility industry stands at a critical inflection point where breakthrough innovation will fundamentally expand access to care,” said Alex Christ, general partner at Advance Venture Partners.
“We saw a fragmented landscape of companies building low impact, point solutions for individual IVF processes, but only Conceivable tackling the full end-to-end approach to IVF that truly pushes the industry forward.
“By integrating these complex steps in one system, they’ve revolutionised the IVF lab with technology, engineering and biology at the core.
“Conceivable’s technology will enable the entire sector to deliver fertility care that’s more consistent, scalable, and, most importantly, within reach for the families who need it most.”
Truelli to advance R&D for world’s first menstrual pad with a built-in screening technology
Health tech startup Truelli is to advance its research and development on the world’s first menstrual pad that has a built-in screening technology designed to transform a period into a health checkpoint.
The company is developing a smart pad that analyses menstrual blood; an information-rich yet historically overlooked biomarker.
The technology is designed to routinely assess four key health indicators in women including nutrient levels, hormonal fluctuations, metabolic function and sexual health.
Results are delivered through a mobile application that syncs relevant data and provides actionable insights.
While innovation in women’s health is progressing, its impact is constrained by the lack of physiologically-relevant and robust R&D.
Without sustained investment that enriches our understanding of female-specific biology, real-world application of these innovations is fruitless.” said Dr. Saba Alzabin, Truelli co-founder and CSO.
“At Truelli, we’re transforming overlooked biological signals within the female cycle into tools that can support her healthspan.
“This has far-reaching potential in geographies where systemic and cultural barriers limit care for women and girls.”
NIH grant for endometriosis therapeutic
EndoCyclic Therapeutics has been awarded a National Institute of Health (NIH) Commercialization Readiness Pilot (CRP) Program grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD.
This funding will accelerate the commercialisation of ENDO-205, a non-hormonal, disease-modifying therapeutic designed to treat endometriosis.
The CRP grant provides late-stage development resources to propel promising therapies toward the clinic.
ENDO-205 employs a pH-sensitive peptide mechanism that selectively eliminates lesions at the site of the disease, while leaving healthy tissue untouched.
This targeted approach allows the drug to fully eliminate lesions across all subtypes of the disease while maintaining a good safety profile.
US$4.5m to Drive US launch of breast surgery platform
Medtech startup Plexāā has raised US$4.5m funding to support the US launch of BLOOM43 – the world’s first fully wearable medical device designed to help patients prepare for breast cancer surgery.
Complication rates in breast surgeries, which can include infection, skin necrosis and the need for additional surgeries, have been recorded as high as 30 per cent.
BLOOM43 utilises Supraphysiological Preconditioning – a new technique that preconditions the skin, causing the release of heat-shock proteins that cause vasodilation and increased blood flow to the area.
According to the company, the process has reduced wound healing complications in proof-of-concept clinical trials and the device has demonstrated substantial improvements in the patient experience and surgical readiness.
Further investment includes over US$1.6m in i4i grant funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), and US$1.3m from Thena Capital, a London-based VC firm backed by the British Business Bank.
The company says the funding will also support future innovations.
Berry Fertility launches AI powered tool for patient communications
Berry Fertility, a comprehensive patient-management platform for IVF, IUI, embryo transfer and egg freezing, has launched its AI-powered Smart Compose tool for patient communications.
Smart Compose is designed to integrate into existing workflows and EMRs to support care teams without disrupting day-to-day operations.
It pulls relevant chart details, reviews patient messages and references history to create a message draft that clinical staff can review and tweak before responding to patients.
The tool, which is purpose-built for the unique needs of fertility clinics and care teams, enables decisions and clinical judgment to be human-led.
The agentic AI system uses a “human-in-the-loop” approach, enabling staff to remain in control and review, edit or discard drafts before they are sent to patients.
By drawing on vetted fertility content and a medication database developed by Berry Fertility, the tool is fully customisable to each clinic’s workflows.
To ensure the safeguarding of data, all data remain isolated to ensure workflows are not shared or used to improve any other system, and no AI models are trained on patient data.
Medical partnership launches femtech product for menstrual cramps
Spark Biomedical and Velentium Medical, partners in neuromodulation device development, have partnered to launch OhmBody.
OhmBody is a division of Spark Biomedical that is working to develop a wearable, non-invasive wellness product intended to help reduce cramps and unhealthy amounts of menstrual blood loss.
Spark Biomedical says that the product is also designed to provide support for other disruptive effects of your period like fatigue, gastric discomfort, and emotional fluctuations.
Seven Starling raises US$8m for mental health platform expansion
Seven Starling has raised US$8m in funding to accelerate the national US expansion of its maternal mental health platform.
Currently operating in 18 states, the company plans to expand to over 30 states by the end of 2026.
The expansion will increase access to specialised care for women experiencing mental health challenges during fertility, pregnancy, postpartum and early parenthood.
According to Seven Starling, the platform has seen 90 per cent clinical improvement in patients who complete the programme, showing significant reductions in depression symptoms.
The platform offers automated patient screening technology, one-click referrals and direct EMR integrations.
It also automates critical operational functions including insurance verification, personalised care team assignment and care co-ordination, and utilises AI for administrative workflows.
“We’ve built technology to solve the operational challenges that typically create friction in healthcare delivery,” said Sophia Richter, COO and co-founder of Seven Starling.
Axia Women’s Health launches AI mammograms
Axia Women’s Health will be offering an FDA-cleared AI technology with every mammogram.
The development aims to increase access to earlier and more accurate breast cancer detection.
The technology known as MammoScreen acts as a “second set of eyes” for radiologists providing a dual-read approach to every mammogram.
In retrospective studies, MammoScreen detected 38.5 per cent of screen detectable cancers two years before diagnosis.
Through a partnership with Onsite Women’s Health, MammoScreen is now available across the Axia Women’s Health network, with multiple imaging centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Indiana.
Each imaging center is located within or near existing Axia OB/GYN care centers, making it more convenient for women to receive the comprehensive care they need.
A new Female Health Hub launched by the English FA will support women and girls in grassroots football in England with trusted advice on health issues affecting play.
The hub brings together expert-backed guidance, practical tools and player insights in one place, giving women and girls practical advice and reassurance on female health in football.
It has four core aims: to help women and girls better understand their bodies and how female health affects performance and participation, to educate players on key health topics and when to seek further advice or support, to provide practical strategies to help navigate common female health challenges, and to help break down taboos and normalise conversations around female health in football.
Users of the hub will also be able to hear directly from members of the England women’s national team, who share their own experiences of navigating female health matters while playing at the highest level of the game.
“Our ambition is to create a game where women and girls can thrive,” said Sue Day, the FA’s director of women’s football.
“To achieve that, it’s essential that players feel supported in environments that understand and respond to their female health needs.
“We’ve heard directly from grassroots players that they want better information and support around female health, but that they often don’t know where to find it.
“The launch of the Female Health Hub marks an important step in changing the landscape.
“We want every player to feel confident in her own skin and supported without judgment, so she can feel empowered by her body, rather than held back by it.”
The platform was launched following research conducted by the FA that highlighted the need for better education and support around female health in football.
According to the FA, 88 per cent of adult players surveyed said their menstrual cycle has an impact on their ability to train or play, but 86 per cent reported they had never received education about the menstrual cycle in relation to football performance and training.
The research also found 64 per cent of women experience issues related to sports bras or breast health while playing football, despite sports bras being considered one of the most important pieces of playing kit.
Players also expressed strong interest in learning more about injury prevention, at 87 per cent, nutrition, at 84 per cent, and mental health, at 77 per cent, in relation to female health.
The first phase of the Female Health Hub focuses on three of the most requested topics: menstrual health, breast health and injury resilience, with further content to follow, including nutrition and pelvic health guidance.
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has referred to the women’s health strategy as a ‘missed opportunity’ to address maternity services.
The renewed strategy was released by the government this week, with the aim of putting women’s experiences at the centre of care and ensuring they are “better heard and served”.
However, the government stated that because of ongoing investigations into maternity services across the country, the strategy “does not seek to address safety in maternity and neonatal services”.
The RCM described this as a “missed opportunity” and urged the government to ensure that, following the inquiries, maternity is placed “at the very heart” of the strategy.
Gill Walton, RCM chief executive, said the college was “deeply disappointed” that maternity services “do not feature as a headline priority” in the renewed strategy.
She said: “This is a significant missed opportunity and one that is very difficult to understand.
“Pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period are not a footnote in women’s health – they are one of the most significant and consequential phases of a woman’s life.
“A strategy that treats maternity as an afterthought is not truly a women’s health strategy at all. It is exactly the kind of thinking that has allowed maternity services to reach the point they are at today.”
Walton acknowledged that the strategy contained commitments on ensuring women’s voices shape their care, on supporting families through pregnancy loss and on the principle that services should be held accountable when they fail to listen to women.
She added: “But a strategy that addresses one part of women’s health while leaving maternity care behind is only doing half the job.”
Walton urged the government to ensure that this is addressed when the ongoing investigations into maternity care conclude, with any recommendations placed “at the very heart of this strategy with the seriousness and urgency that women, families and midwives deserve”.
In the foreword to the renewed plans, health and social care secretary Wes Streeting referred to the ongoing independent National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation as action being taken by the government to improve safety in maternity services.
The strategy also refers to the new National Maternity and Neonatal Taskforce, chaired by Streeting, which aims to help deliver “safer, more equitable care” for women, babies and families.
The foreword said that, because of ongoing initiatives, it was “important that this work continues without restriction and that the government can properly respond to the findings”.
It added: “This renewed women’s health strategy therefore does not seek to address safety in maternity and neonatal services other than that related to women’s health before and during pregnancy and the actions we are taking immediately to improve maternity and neonatal care.”
The strategy does, however, include plans to prioritise health education in schools, communities and healthcare settings to “empower women” with the “knowledge and tools they need to help control their fertility” and “prepare for the best pregnancy outcomes.
It also promises to provide women with access to “safe and high-quality contraception, abortion care, fertility services, preconception care and support after pregnancy loss in convenient settings.
Article produced in association with London Pregnancy Clinic and Jeen Health
For the majority of couples planning a pregnancy, genetic testing is not something they think about until a problem arises.
Pre-conception genetic carrier screening challenges this approach by identifying risk before pregnancy begins.
As panel sizes have grown and at-home testing options have become widely available, carrier screening is transitioning from a niche clinical referral into a mainstream component of reproductive planning.
What Carrier Screening Tests For
Being a carrier of a genetic condition means carrying one copy of a variant in a gene associated with that condition, without being affected by it.
In most cases, carriers are entirely unaware of their status.
The clinical significance of carrier status emerges when both members of a couple carry a variant in the same gene: in this scenario, each pregnancy carries a one in four chance of resulting in a child who inherits two copies of the variant and is affected by the condition.
The conditions most frequently included in expanded carrier screening panels include cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), fragile X syndrome, sickle cell disease, and a range of metabolic and enzyme deficiency disorders.
The Beacon 787 carrier test, offered by Jeen Health, screens for 787 conditions from a single sample, making it one of the most comprehensive panels currently available to UK families.
Who Is Most Likely to Benefit
Any couple planning a pregnancy can consider carrier screening. It is particularly relevant for:
- Couples with a family history of a known inherited condition
- Those from populations with higher carrier frequencies for specific conditions, including Ashkenazi Jewish, South Asian and African communities
- Couples pursuing fertility treatment, where genetic information informs treatment planning
- Those who wish to have the most complete picture of their reproductive health before conception
Importantly, being a carrier of a condition does not mean a child will be affected. It means there is a defined statistical risk that can be quantified, discussed and planned for with appropriate clinical support.
How the Test Is Performed
Carrier screening is typically carried out on a blood or saliva sample.
For at-home options such as the testing offered by Jeen Health, a cheek swab collection kit is dispatched to the patient, the sample is returned by post, and results are delivered digitally within a defined turnaround period.
In-clinic carrier testing may use a blood draw and provides the advantage of immediate access to a clinical consultation at the point of result delivery.
London Pregnancy Clinic offers genetics counselling through its partnership with Jeen Health, allowing couples to receive and contextualise carrier test results with expert support.
Genetic counselling before and after testing is recommended by Genomics England as a standard component of any genomic testing pathway.
What Happens If Both Partners Are Carriers
If both partners are identified as carriers for the same autosomal recessive condition, they are typically offered further counselling to discuss their options.
These may include proceeding naturally with an awareness of the risk, using prenatal diagnosis (CVS or amniocentesis) during pregnancy to test the fetus, or pursuing preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) in the context of IVF, which allows unaffected embryos to be selected before transfer.
The purpose of identifying carrier status before pregnancy is to give couples time to consider these options without the added pressure of an ongoing pregnancy.
Knowledge of carrier status does not remove reproductive choices; it expands the information available when making them.
The Role of Pre-Conception Services
Carrier screening sits within a broader category of pre-conception care that includes fertility assessments, general health optimisation and, where relevant, management of existing conditions before pregnancy begins.
London Pregnancy Clinic offers pre-conception services encompassing fertility investigations, genetics counselling and carrier testing as part of an integrated 0th trimester approach, allowing couples to address genetic and clinical risk factors before their pregnancy starts rather than after.
Disclaimer: This article is produced for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Clinical guidance referenced reflects published NHS, NICE and RCOG standards as at March 2026. Individual circumstances vary; readers are advised to consult a qualified healthcare professional before acting on any information in this article.
This piece was produced in association with London Pregnancy Clinic and Jeen Health, which provided background clinical information for editorial purposes.
Hyperlinks to external sources are included for reference only and do not represent an endorsement of any product, service or organisation.
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