Ava closes $10M Series A Round

The oversubscribed financing round was led by Polytech Ecosystem Ventures. Others contributing to the round include new investors Blue Ocean Ventures and Nasdaq-listed B2B media company Global Sources, along with company’s existing seed investors Swisscom and ZKB and others from the healthcare and technology fields.

According to Lea von Bidder, co­founder of Ava, the funds will be used for further product development, to scale production of Ava bracelets to meet consumer demand, and to advance the company’s research; the second clinical study is currently underway. Ava is also expanding into international markets, launching in various European countries early next year.

“We are thrilled to support such a visionary company within the women’s reproductive health space, where true innovation has been so lacking until now. With Ava, the company has obviously hit a nerve with a population thirsty for better solutions to the fertility and cycle tracking dilemma, but we know this is just the tip of the iceberg for where they can go with this revolutionary new wearable technology,” said Laurent Bischof from Polytech Ventures.

Pascal Koenig, co-founder of Ava, added “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. 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.”

Backed by an initial seed round of $2.6M, Ava officially launched its first product to market in July. Ava works by recording nine physiological factors that correspond with the rise in hormones indicating the onset of ovulation. The FDA-approved Class One medical device was proven in a recently concluded clinical study at the University Hospital of Zurich to detect an average of 5.3 fertile days per cycle with 89 percent accuracy. In September, Ava confirmed the first pregnancy attributed to use of the bracelet in the US since it began shipping this summer.

About AVA
Founded in Switzerland in 2014 by industry leaders in wearable technology, women’s health, and data science, Ava is a medical technology company dedicated to bringing innovation to women’s reproductive health. The Ava bracelet uses a patented big data approach to precisely detect a woman’s entire fertile window in real time. The company is working on clinical studies to expand its algorithms for use in both pregnancy recognition, pregnancy monitoring, and possible use as a non-­hormonal contraceptive device. With research and product development based in Zurich, Ava’s US headquarters are in San Francisco.

(RAN)