Inito, a Y Combinator graduate specializing in at-home fertility hormone tracking for women, has successfully raised $6 million in Series A funding, with Fireside Ventures leading the investment. The Bengaluru-based startup, founded in 2015 by CEO Aayush Rai and CTO Varun A Venkatesan, both with backgrounds at medtech giant Siemens, aims to provide users with easily interpretable fertility diagnostic results on their smartphones within 10 minutes.
Inito’s fertility monitor and kit distinguish themselves by measuring four crucial fertility hormones—estrogen, LH, progesterone metabolite PdG, and FSH—on a single test strip. This comprehensive approach goes beyond standard at-home ovulation tests that typically track only estrogen and LH. The kit, which includes the monitor, test strips, and access to the Inito app, enables users to obtain numerical values for their fertility hormones, offering a personalized analysis of their fertility window and confirmation of ovulation.
Unlike traditional tests that provide binary results, Inito’s app interprets the evolution of the four hormones collectively, offering low, high, or peak fertility ratings and confirming ovulation for each cycle. Rai emphasized that the app utilizes AI advancements to explain results in natural language.
The Inito Fertility Monitor, recognized as a Class I medical device exempt from FDA premarket notification requirements, is priced at $149 for the starter kit, which includes the device and 15 test strips. Refill strips are available for $49. The startup, having conducted over 2.5 million tests, plans to leverage its extensive dataset to enhance analytics through AI.
The newly secured funding will facilitate the development of more advanced analytics, with a focus on correlating symptoms, moods, sleep patterns, and medications to hormonal fluctuations. Additionally, Inito plans to expand its business operations by launching an Android app, investing in R&D for new products, and addressing pregnancy health tracking, ovarian reserve, and male fertility hormones.
Inito’s total funding now stands at $15 million, with previous support from Y Combinator, former Nurx CEO Varsha Rao, and various physicians and family offices. Looking ahead, the startup envisions a future where at-home healthcare tests are accessible to all, fostering a better understanding of individuals’ bodies and health conditions.
