Femtech Startup Inne Raises €8.8M To Power Up Ahead Of Launch

BERLIN, Germany — German startup Inne has secured €8.8 million ahead of its launch, as it gets ready to disrupt the rapidly growing femtech category.

The round, led by Blossom Capital, also featured participation from existing backer Monkfish Equity and angel investors Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of TransferWise, Rolf Schromgens, cofounder of Trivago, and Tom Stafford, managing partner at global investment firm DS.

Inne has a winning combination of scientific validity plus usability that can enable women to better understand their bodies at all stages in their lives,” commented Louise Samet, partner at Blossom Capital. 

“What really impressed us is the team’s meticulous focus on design and ease-of-use together with the scientific validity and clear ambition to impact women all over the world.”

According to founder Eirini Rapti, the capital will be used to grow the team and hire more employees across software engineering, design and operations, ahead of the product’s official launch in 2020.

It joins a wave of innovative femtech startups that have raised investment over the past 12 months, including British brand Elvie which secured $42 million and San Francisco-based Cora, which raised $7.5 million.

Read More: Elvie Secures $42M, Putting FemTech Sector On Course To Raise $1bn In Investment By Year End

By providing insights into ovulation, periods and hormone levels, Inne claims to build a hormonal data bank for individuals who are looking for more information and clarity on their fertility, hormones and reproductive health.

An in vitro diagnostic device, which enables data to be extracted from disposable at-home saliva tests, wirelessly logs the results in a companion app, giving users access to their data and how it changes throughout the menstrual cycle. 

“Women want to know more about their bodies and how to control their reproductive health. They may have concerns about when is the right time to start a family or they may already have decided that they don’t want to take hormones because of the side effects they experience,” Rapti told TechCrunch.

“To use Inne, the woman takes a daily saliva sample on a strip and places it into the Inne reader. The app will collect and calibrate progesterone levels, enabling it to build up a picture of whether the user is fertile that day,” she added.

However, beyond natural contraception and fertility tracking, in the future, the brand also hopes to provide users with information about the menopause, as well as help manage conditions such as endometriosis

According to Rapti, the goal is to be a tool for women in order to help them gain clarity and understanding when it comes to changes in their bodies no matter their goal or concern.

By closing the gap between data and meaningful insight, Inne plans to position itself at the forefront of the femtech category — an industry predicted to reach $50 billion by 2025.