Ava bags $10M for wrist-worn fertility tracker

Ava, which focuses on women’s reproductive health, reeled in a $9.7 million Series A funding round, which will drive product development and scale production of its fertility-tracking wristband, as well as propel its expansion into European markets.

The Zurich-based company launched the Ava fertility bracelet in the U.S. in July. It is the first device to track the fertile days of a woman’s menstrual cycle in real time, according to the company.

Worn at night, the device continuously records data on nine physiological measures that reflect a rise in hormones associated with ovulation, according to a statement from the company. These measures include pulse, breathing rate, sleep quality and temperature. In the morning, the data is synced with a mobile app. A recent study showed the tracker was able to identify an average of 5.3 fertile days per cycle with 89 percent accuracy.

"We are excited to see the response from investors, and even more importantly, from the thousands of women from all over the world to our Ava bracelet,” said CEO Pascal Koenig, in the statement. “Certainly the need for a better solution to helping couples conceive is real. With these funds, we'll be able to further accelerate our traction, and continue on our mission of developing technology that improves the reproductive health of women worldwide."

Polytech Ecosystem Ventures led the financing, with participation from new investors Blue Ocean Ventures and Global Sources, as well as from existing backers Swisscom and ZKB.

Ava will use the funding to develop the product further as well as to scale production of the fertility tracker to meet consumer demand, said Lea von Bidder, Ava Science president and vice president of marketing, in the statement. It will also ramp up the company’s research efforts—the bracelet is currently in a second clinical study—and bankroll its expansion into some European countries next year.