Evvy, a female-founded startup that aims to build a new understanding of the female body, launches today. Evvy’s first focus is on a critical but often overlooked biomarker: the vaginal microbiome. Evvy is co-founded by Stanford alumni Priyanka Jain and Laine Bruzek and backed by a newly raised seed round of $5 million from General Catalyst, Box Group, Virtue, Human Ventures, G9 Ventures, BBG Ventures, and others. Margo Georgiadis, Executive-in-Residence at General Catalyst and former CEO of one of the world’s largest at-home testing companies, Ancestry, has joined Evvy’s board. Evvy’s at-home vaginal microbiome test leverages metagenomic sequencing to help anyone with a vagina understand what’s up down there, why it matters, and what they can do about it.
At least 30% of women and people with vaginas suffer each year from imbalances in the vaginal microbiome, manifesting as yeast infections, recurrent UTIs, bacterial vaginosis (BV) and other infections. For those struggling with recurrent infections, Evvy’s test finally brings specificity to what is otherwise a long and difficult journey of identifying what may be causing their symptoms.
For those without infections, groundbreaking new research shows that the vaginal microbiome is a critical marker of overall health in the female body. The microbes in the vaginal microbiome are associated with everything from preterm birth to infertility to STI acquisition to cervical cancer progression. Evvy’s Vaginal Health Test finally gives women access to this data, enabling them to take control of their preventative health.
“Women weren’t required to be in clinical research in the US until 1993, meaning we are decades behind in understanding how to best care for women and people with vaginas,” said Evvy CEO and co-founder Priyanka Jain. “Evvy is here to empower us to better understand what’s going on in our own bodies while building new datasets that can transform our ability to predict risk, diagnose, and treat diseases in the female body.”
“Evvy is breaking boundaries to advance women’s health with more affordable and comprehensive testing starting with its vaginal microbiome metagenomics test,” says Margo Georgiadis. “The team has bold plans to enable greater early detection, improved treatment, and enhanced therapeutics using new female-specific biomarkers.”
The Evvy Vaginal Health Test is available in all 50 states and performed as a simple, at-home swab. Test results are delivered back after 2 weeks in a personal, private online dashboard with actionable results, curated insights on how your vaginal microbiome is related to your holistic health & recommendations based on your unique health context.
“Almost everyone with a vagina will deal with a UTI, yeast infection, BV, or another vaginal infection in their lifetime — and many of us recurrently,” said Evvy CMO and co-founder, Laine Bruzek. “But the taboo around vaginal health means that we often go through our care journey alone, and with deep embarrassment. It’s time that vaginal health, and women’s health as a whole, gets the destigmatized investment it deserves on a systemic, clinical, and personal level.”
For Evvy, the vaginal microbiome is just the beginning. The company is already planning to expand into new biomarkers, datasets, and products that can transform how we diagnose and treat conditions in the female body.
As of July 14th, Evvy’s test will be available in all 50 states at evvy.com for $129.
