Femtech company Clue, which offers an app focused on menstrual cycle tracking and reproductive health, raised €7 million ($7.6 million) in funding led by existing investors Union Square Ventures and Balderton Capital.
The company also announced it would allow users to become investors in the company via British investment crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. Users who invest could participate in and influence the app’s development through polls, testing and forums with the Clue team.
WHAT THEY DO
The Berlin-based company offers reproductive health services from period to pregnancy tracking.
The funds will be used to expand the company’s product portfolio, scale its digital family planning offering and continue its research efforts.
“Building on a round led by our fantastic investors Balderton Capital and Union Square Ventures, opening the doors to community investors will truly involve our user community in our journey and success in a way that’s so true to Clue,” the company’s co-CEO Audrey Tsang told MobiHealthNews in an email.
“The women’s health experience has always been marginalized. The fact that it still takes an average of seven years to get an endometriosis diagnosis is just one example of how much work there still is to do in this space. We’re out to change that at Clue, and we want our user community involved.”
MARKET SNAPSHOT
In 2021, Clue received FDA 510(k) clearance to launch Clue Birth Control, an all-digital form of contraceptive that relies on period tracking data. It subsequently received €16 million ($17.5 million) in funding to roll out its app in the U.S. and announced its founder Ida Tin would step down with co-CEOs Audrey Tsang and Carrie Walter taking the role.
Clue was not immune to the massive layoffs seen around the tech industry. Walter announced on LinkedIn that it was reducing the size of its workforce by one quarter earlier this year.
Since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, there’s been a spotlight on women’s reproductive health, especially in regard to data privacy and security within women’s health apps. Last year, Clue responded to users’ concerns via a blog post on their site, stating they do not share users’ health data.
Jennifer Gaudet Hefele will offer more detail in the HIMSS23 session “Leveraging the Wisdom of Crowds to Measure Healthcare Quality.” It is scheduled for Tuesday, April 18 at 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. CT at the South Building, Level 5, room S505.