Carrot raises $24m to help employers offer fertility benefits

19 Aug 2020

Image: © djile/Stock.adobe.com

Carrot Fertility helps employers provide access to egg freezing, IVF treatment, adoption, donor and gestational carrier services.

On Tuesday (18 August), San Francisco-based fertility benefits provider Carrot Fertility announced that it has closed a $24m Series B funding round. To date, the start-up has raised more than $40m in total.

The Series B round was led by US Venture Partners, with participation from F-Prime Capital as well as existing investors including CRV, Precursor Ventures, Maven Ventures and Uncork Capital.

Carrot also announced that Brian Marcotte has joined its board. Marcotte was president and CEO of Business Group on Health for almost a decade, which is a healthcare and benefits strategy business.

In a statement, Carrot said that the latest round of investment will be used to fuel the company’s global expansion, deepen its product development in telehealth and telemedicine features across the fertility care sector, and to hire new talent.

Fertility benefits

The start-up’s programme aims to offer employees with financial, medical and emotional support as they pursue parenthood. It provides access to egg freezing, in vitro fertilisation (IVF), adoption, donor and gestational carrier services.

Over the last six months, the start-up has launched a new suite of products including Carrot at Home, a telehealth programme that combines AI-powered predictive analytics with virtual appointments.

Members can connect remotely with more than 2,000 reproductive endocrinologists, urologists, adoption experts, mental health experts, obstetricians and gynaecologists, as well as doulas and midwives.

Carrot at Home was developed in partnership with women’s digital health company Ava to give Carrot members the option of beginning their fertility care at home, when visiting a clinic in person is not preferred or possible.

Access to fertility healthcare

Tammy Sun, CEO and co-founder of Carrot, said: “The pandemic has increased the urgency of ensuring people have access to fertility healthcare – whether at clinics or at home. Now more than ever, employers seek flexible and focused solutions that can be customised to their business needs.

“Our focus continues to be on meeting the rapidly growing needs of employers who want clinically managed, high-quality fertility care for employees in the US and around the world.”

Carrot’s fertility benefits platform has been adopted by more than 100 companies including Box, Snap and Peloton. It is used in more than 42 countries across North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America and the Middle East.

Dafina Toncheva, managing partner at US Venture Partners, said: “Carrot stands out in the industry with its ability to design a flexible solution that empowers every employer regardless of size or geography to offer the highest quality care to its entire global workforce.

“We’re excited and honoured to support the Carrot team as it expands its global operation, brings more innovative products to market and redefines workplace benefits so everyone has access to fertility care, which we believe is an essential part of healthcare.”

Kelly Earley was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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