Machine Learning Meets Motherhood: This Entrepreneur Is Changing The Future Of Fertility

Key Concepts

• Precision Medicine: Tailoring medical treatment to the individual characteristics of each patient, particularly in fertility care.
• IVF (In Vitro Fertilization): A medical procedure where an egg is fertilized by sperm in a test tube or elsewhere outside the body.
• Egg Freezing (Social Freezing): The process of preserving a woman's eggs to allow her to try to conceive at a later date.
• Endometriosis: A condition where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, often causing pain and fertility issues.
• AI in Fertility Care: The use of artificial intelligence to personalize treatment decisions, assess egg/embryo quality, and enhance patient experience.
• Large Language Models (LLMs): AI models used for understanding and generating human-like text, applied here for patient support.
• Patient-Centric Care: Focusing on the individual patient's needs, preferences, and overall experience.
• Accessibility of Care: Making fertility treatments more affordable and available.
• Operational Excellence: Optimizing clinic processes for efficiency and quality.
• Dual Company Model: Operating as both a technology developer and a direct healthcare provider.

Felicia Vonen's Background and Inspiration

Felicia Vonen, co-founder and CEO of OOM Care, has a background in Business Administration from Germany and Switzerland. Inspired by her entrepreneurial mother, she knew early on she wanted to build companies that "is changing status quo." After starting her first company in veterinary medicine, her personal journey with infertility led her to the fertility care space.

About two and a half years ago, Felicia was diagnosed with severe endometriosis. A doctor informed her, "your reproductive age is at least 10 years older than your actual biological age," when she was 26. This diagnosis, coupled with the advice to consider family-building options immediately, prompted her to explore fertility clinics. She was disappointed by what she perceived as a "one-size-fits-all" approach, lacking personalization and personal touch. "I didn't feel that," she stated, referring to feeling like a unique individual. The most shocking aspect for her was the low success rates in IVF care. This led her to investigate ways to improve these rates, ultimately focusing on "precision medicine in the end personalizing fertility care to each individual human that seeks to build a family and really optimizing the care for each person by that actually boosting the success rates."

OOM Care: Mission and Services

OOM Care's mission is "to empower every single human being that seeks to build a family to become a parent." This mission is built on three core pillars:

1. Success Rates: OOM Care uses technology and research to significantly improve success rates for both IVF and egg freezing.
2. Accessibility:
   • Efficiency: The company focuses on "driving efficiency in the clinic" by reducing administrative work, thereby giving doctors and staff more time for patients.
   • Cost-Effectiveness: OOM Care aims to reduce costs for patients. Their second clinic is based in Portugal, a location chosen for its ability to offer "extremely high quality of care with technology and our doctors at the same time the operation costs a little bit lower so we can also pass the cost um the cost benefits on to to the patient."
3. Patient Experience:
   • Environment: OOM Care aims to change the typically "wide it's sterile" feel of fertility clinics to create a more comfortable environment for an "extremely emotional" journey.
   • Personalization: The focus is on "making you feel seen as an individual."
   • Technology Integration: An app provides support "every step of the way." Transparency is key, with patients shown images and videos of their eggs or developing embryos, making them "part of the journey and not just a bystander."

The Role of AI and Emerging Technologies

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is integral to OOM Care's approach, impacting two main areas:

• Success Rates: AI is deployed "to personalize every single decision step through the journey." This includes determining the right medication, the correct dosage, and assessing egg quality beyond mere quantity. "We have AI which is assessing the quality which is then ultimately informing the doctors and the umbrellas [embryologists] and making better decisions for you as you know as an individual," Felicia explained.
• Patient Experience: OOM Care utilizes "large language models and automated systems to really support you in the best possible manner without any timely delays and really being with you and you know seeing like already sensing you have a wish even before you actually know it."

Team Structure and Operational Uniqueness

OOM Care's uniqueness lies in its integration of two core components: a technical side focused on AI and data, and a medical side centered on clinic operations. Felicia emphasizes, "Only if you bring the two teams together you can actually develop innovation that brings that value to the patient." This collaborative approach means technology is developed in real-time based on operational needs, and operational practices are refined based on technological feedback.

The team currently consists of 23 people. Felicia co-founded OOM Care with Dr. Lana Bray Boy, a US-trained reproductive clinician who manages the medical aspects. The technology side is led by their CTO, Tom Kaer, who has extensive experience in the AI space.

Innovating in a Traditionally Slow-Moving Industry

The healthcare industry has historically been slow to adopt new technologies. OOM Care navigates this by being "essentially two companies at the same time: we are technology company... and the other side we are also a healthcare provider." This dual model allows them to "develop technology and we bring it directly to the patient as we also are the care provider," significantly shortening the typical adoption lag. Having their own clinics enables faster iteration and direct incorporation of patient feedback.

Addressing Startup Challenges

Felicia believes in "building on top of emerging technology" like GPT and other large language models to accelerate growth. Current challenges include those associated with building a new fertility clinic in Portugal:

• Regulation: Each European country has a different set of regulations for fertility care. Portugal was chosen for its "benefit" in this regard.
• Construction Delays: "A construction site always takes longer than you expect," Felicia noted. The company is developing a "modular approach" to learn from these hurdles and streamline future projects.

Patient Demographics and Service Demand

OOM Care has assisted over 350 patients. The services sought are almost evenly split, "almost 50/50 egg freezing and IVF or IVF related services." There's a noticeable "increase in appetite for egg freezing and social freezing," which includes both egg and sperm freezing, reflecting a trend towards preserving fertility for the future.

Funding and Investor Relations

OOM Care has secured $8 million in funding. Felicia attributes strong investor support to the growing recognition of the need for innovation in fertility, especially as "fertility rates are declining all across the globe" and "more than 95% of people which are actually infertile" lack access to care. Investors are reportedly convinced by OOM Care's model of combining technology with direct patient care for rapid iteration. Felicia mentioned they have been "pretty lucky" with investors who understand the topic's importance, noting that "fertility is not just a female issue it is also a male issue," making family building relevant to both genders.

The Future of Fertility: Precision Medicine

Looking ahead, Felicia is excited about the advent of precision medicine in fertility. "We finally go in an era of precision medicine. We finally are in a place we're building the data models now that we're able to make decisions for you as an individual," she stated. This involves understanding the impact of lifestyle factors like sleep patterns and stress levels on fertility treatments and medication responses. The goal is to move away from a generalized approach to one that is "about you and not essentially applicable to everyone." Ultimately, this shift aims to "enable you know people to build more families and be happier."

Synthesis/Conclusion

OOM Care, co-founded by Felicia Vonen, is positioning itself at the forefront of innovation in the IVF and fertility space by championing precision medicine. Driven by Felicia's personal experiences and a critique of the traditional "one-size-fits-all" approach, the company integrates advanced AI and technology with direct patient care through its own clinics. This dual model aims to enhance success rates, improve accessibility (both in terms of cost and patient experience), and accelerate the adoption of new technologies. With significant funding and a growing patient base, OOM Care is focused on personalizing every aspect of the fertility journey, from treatment protocols informed by individual data to a more supportive and transparent patient experience. The ultimate vision is to leverage data and technology to make family building more successful and accessible, ushering in an era where fertility care is truly individualized.