Millennial Fertility Co.

Millennial Fertility Company has created an affordable, effective fertility treatment.

Its FDA-cleared solution is a first-step conception kit that’s drug-free and can be used at home.

This is a big opportunity. The global fertility market is expected to reach $31 billion by 2023.

This company’s solution is targeted toward “millennial” couples trying to get pregnant — those currently in the childbearing stage of their lives. This includes 71 million people in the U.S. alone.

For couples in this and other age groups, getting pregnant can be difficult. When couples seek help getting pregnant, they’re forced to choose from traditional options offered as part of the Assisted Reproductive Technology, or “ART,” market.

The most common option is In Vitro Fertilization, or IVF. But this treatment is expensive. The average cost of just the “first round” of IVF is $23,000. Subsequent rounds add another $10,000 to $12,000 each.

Alternative treatments often include a heavy dose of hormone-based drugs, which can have significant long-term health effects. Current treatments can also result in higher levels of multiple births compared to natural conception.

Problems like these plague fertility solutions, but because of barriers related to cost, time, or availability, a lot of people don’t even have access to them.

For example, many people can’t afford the cost of IVF. In fact, 70% of fertility treatments are issued to households with incomes above $100,000.

Others don’t have the time. Most ART treatments require an average of 142 hours. Meanwhile, 25 million childbearing-aged women in the U.S. don’t have access to any treatment options where they live.

Compounding these problems is the coronavirus pandemic. During Covid-19, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine has recommended that doctors suspend initiation of all new ART treatment cycles.

So, where can these couples turn? Millennial Fertility Company is offering a potential solution.

Its conception kit is:

• Affordable: At a retail price of $99, this kit doesn’t require a significant financial commitment. This makes it available to lower-income households.

• Drug-Free: As mentioned, this treatment is drug-free, meaning the user doesn’t have to worry about unwanted side effects. It also offers an option for cancer survivors who, in many cases, can’t use any form of hormone-based fertility treatments.

• Natural: The kit is a natural conception solution that yields normal rates of multiple and pre-term births.

• Convenient: The conception kit can be used at home and delivered straight to a person’s door.

Here’s how the treatment works:

The conception kit comes with multiple ovulation predictors, a patented conception cap and sperm collector, and a pregnancy test.

First, sperm is collected naturally. Next, it’s placed into the conception cap. Finally, the cap is placed on the woman’s cervix for 3 to 5 hours.

Millennial Fertility does not view its kit as a direct competitor to current options. Rather, the kit is a first step for all couples to try before they make the decision to access more advanced treatments.

The company is still in a pre-revenue stage, and expects to launch its conception kit in 2021.

Its parent company, Conceivex, previously created a prescription version of this technology. As part of that work, it successfully secured FDA clearance for its cervical cap technology.

Conceivex has since transferred all of that intellectual property to Millennial Fertility. Therefore, this company will be able to sell a prescription version, as well as an over-the-counter version.

Longer-term, Millennial Fertility plans to offer a subscription service for its kits, as well as a referral program.

In addition, it plans to insert promotional materials and coupons from infant-focused consumer product companies, and will explore “white-labeling” its kit through companies with brick-and-mortar locations.

Team Background

Dr. Gaylen Kelton - Team Member

Gaylen is an experienced physician with a focus on family medicine.

He began his career as an emergency room physician, where he helped deliver more than 1,000 babies.

After that, he was an associate professor of clinical family medicine at Indiana University. He held this position for 14 years, teaching medical students, residents, and physician assistant students.

From there he founded the Physician Assistant Program at Indiana University, which he oversaw for six years.

Most recently, he was a professor emeritus of clinical family medicine at Indiana University.

Gaylen earned his M.D. from the University of Ottawa.

Michael Rosen - Board Member

In addition to his duties with Millennial Fertility, Michael is Managing Director of the Innovation and Research Park at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. He’s also Managing Director of Tekcapital, a company assisting universities in accelerating technology startups.

Notably, he was Managing Director of Rosen Bioscience Strategies, a consulting company focused on developing life sciences businesses. Prior to this, he was a partner consultant for Aagami, another life sciences-focused consultancy company.

Earlier in his career, Michael gained healthcare experience as Chairman of the Board with Center for Healthcare Innovation, a non-profit organization. At the same time, he was a board member with the Illinois Biotechnology Industry Association.

He spent six years before that as a biotech columnist with MidwestBusiness, a website documenting trends in the life sciences market. He held this role after two years with Bristol-Myers Squibb, and 10 years with Pfizer, two pharmaceutical companies.

Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Beloit College and an MBA from the University of Miami.

Mike Bock - Director of Business Development

Mike's healthcare experience has focused on client-facing operations such as technical support, product marketing, and business consulting.

He began his career at Xerox, where he spent 21 years. He served as a product marketing manager, solutions operations manager, and a national manager. During his time there, he worked directly with health insurance companies and other healthcare-related customers on technology and sales matters.

Following that, he was a professor of business and applied technology at College of DuPage. He held this role until joining Millennial Fertility in 2017.

Mike earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Indiana University, a Master’s degree in Health Communications from Northwestern, and an MBA from Northwestern.

Harry Cendrowski - Chairman

Harry has 30 years of business and accounting experience, including several in the healthcare industry.

For the past 17 years, he’s been Managing Director of Cendrowski Corporate Advisors, a consulting company focused on corporate governance practices and tax compliance.

During this time, since 2010, he’s also served as Chairman of Conceivex, the parent company to Millennial Fertility. Conceivex aims to provide healthcare products to assist in reproduction efforts.

Earlier in his career, Harry was an advisory board member at the Law Center at DePaul University, and started as an accountant with Touche Ross & Company.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Detroit.

Co-Investors