Fertility remains a pressing concern around the world: birth rates are declining in many countries and rates of infertility (i.e. the ability to conceive) are increasing.
And given the emotional difficulties people face when dealing with infertility, it’s no surprise that the opportunity is so great. But so does the fact that the sector still remains largely fragmented and disconnected.
Rhea, a reproductive health service provider based in Singapore and New York, aims to address this challenge by connecting the global value chain and using technology.
Rhea said Thursday it has secured $10 million in funding to continue expanding its service. Previous backer Thiel Capital led this latest injection, with participation from LifeX Ventures, Blue Lion Global and FJ Labs.
With the new money, Rhea plans to acquire more clinics in 2024, expand its services into new markets, and grow its team of reproductive health professionals to set a high-quality standard in reproductive health care. fertility around the world. Rhea now has more than 380 employees across 12 markets.
The latest funding follows its initial $20 million in 2023 and acquisition of Embryonics, an Israel-based startup that has built AI-based IVF software solutions, earlier this year.
The startup also announced today the launch of Rhea, an end-to-end reproductive health service that connects prospective families in Asia with complementary operations in North America and Europe.
Rhea’s ecosystem includes GenPrime, a global network of owned and partner clinics; Rhea Labs, an integrated technology platform that uses data to accelerate time to market and integrate quality product feedback to improve patient outcomes; and a series of fertility wellness partners, including Moom Health, Elix Healing and Madam Partum, to offer more comprehensive reproductive health services.
Rhea has integrated Embryonics’ AI-based diagnostic tools into its product development pipeline and exclusive regional distribution rights with leading medical partners. Rhea Labs is also developing RheaX, a global gamete exchange company that develops creative solutions to improve the gamete matching and transfer process. The partnership with Baylor College of Medicine, a health sciences university located at the Texas Medical Center, will help develop this exchange.
Rhea was initially incubated by Recharge Capital in response to the growing trend of women and families around the world wanting more flexibility and options in family planning, Rhea CEO Margaret Wang told TechCrunch. Lorin Gu, the founding partner of Recharge Capital, founded Rhea, and Wang, who first joined Recharge as an advisor in January 2023, took over Rhea as CEO in September.
GenPrime was initially planned to consist of a small group of clinics based in Southeast Asia. However, the members of the practice, based on their own fertility experiences, wanted to create a company that would provide not only the clinical network (GenPrime), but also medical devices, information and a comprehensive package of health services. -be on the platform.
“The traditional approach is very compartmentalized and relies on third-party players. We are innovating integration to connect different parts of the value chain and combining not only high physical clinical experience, but also the application of technology along the way,” said Wang.
A recent report shows that global birth rates have halved over the past 70 years, with more than half of countries below replacement rate. (Some quick statistics: South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world, Singapore fell below 1.0 last year and China, the region’s largest market, saw its population decline for the second year in a row .)
“The rapid decline in fertility rates around the world is a sign of impending population decline, the effects of which are particularly affecting countries in Asia,” Wang said.
Additionally, each country has its own regulations, making the fertility journey difficult with unique requirements. For example, China’s National Health Commission prohibits single women from using assisted reproductive technologies (ART), including egg freezing. Services are only available to heterosexual married couples in China. As a result, many Chinese patients must pass through the AIPAC region to receive fertility services, Wang noted. In Singapore, elective egg freezing for women aged 21 to 37 was not legalized until July 2023.
Rhea’s platform connects potential families in Asia facing various regulatory challenges related to reproductive health. Despite the abundance of new options available, researching, gathering information and making informed decisions remains a significant challenge due to the emotional and vulnerable nature of the experience, Wang explained.
“On the clinic network side, we look to players like CCRM and Spring Fertility with their similar patient-focused approach and, of course, IVI RMA and EuginGroup for scale,” Wang said when asked. asked about his industry peers. “But all of this is generally found throughout Europe and the United States. In Asia, the groups are much smaller and are either within a single country (which carries country-specific risk) or on a microregional scale. But no one thinks about the end-to-end, global-first ecosystem and how we develop and integrate technology and devices. Rhea remains differentiated as it is the first integrated homestay ecosystem centered in Asia.
The company is currently in a growth phase, building on assets acquired last year and expanding its integrated model to reach a wider customer base. As an example, Rhea acquired a medical tourism company specializing in Chinese demand for fertility services.
“This company normally refers patients to partner clinics, but by joining our company we can now direct demand to clinics that we own, know and trust in the quality of experience. Overall business margins are improving because now we are no longer capturing just certain parts of the experience (referring to lead generation or individual services), but rather the entire patient journey,” said Wang.
The company makes money through its clinical services, generating leads for partner clinics and companies, and holding exclusive rights to distribute or develop medical technologies and devices.
To deliver an integrated service ecosystem, Rhea introduced its senior advisory group which includes Dr. Milton Leong, pioneer of IVF in Hong Kong and founding president of the Hong Kong Society for Reproductive Medicine; Cynthia Hudson, vice president of clinical strategy at TMRW Life Sciences; Dr. Javaid I. Sheikh, Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar; Dr. Michael Coburn, professor and chair of the department of urology at Baylor College of Medicine; Bea Camacho, Southeast Asia director for IDEO; Weylin Liew, Co-Founder of Fertility Support SG and Global Sustainability Portfolio Manager and Head of Active Engagement at Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund GIC.
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