Natural Cycles, a women’s health company known for its basal temperature based birth control app, has received funding from Samsung Ventures to intensify its AI/ML efforts and hardware development. The $7 million investment round also included contributions from all of Natural Cycles’ existing institutional investors Heartcore Capital, Headline, Bonnier Ventures and EQT Ventures.
The FDA-cleared NC° app determines fertile and non-fertile days using an algorithm, based on body temperature and other fertility indicators, for natural pregnancy planning or prevention. Natural Cycles reached profitability in 2022 and secured strategic partners for hardware development.
As a Class II medical device, the NC° app is cleared by the FDA in the United States and certified to be used as a contraceptive in Europe, Australia, and Singapore. The app is powered by an algorithm that analyzes body temperature, along with other key fertility indicators, to determine red (fertile) or green (not fertile) days in order to plan or prevent pregnancy naturally.
Dr. Raoul Scherwitzl, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Natural Cycles notes: “We have changed the lives of women around the world by bringing together science and technology to address an underserved – and often overlooked – area of women’s health. We have just scratched the surface and are very excited to have a partner like Samsung Ventures that invests in and values future-oriented businesses like Natural Cycles that are based on new and innovative technologies.”
He continues: “Natural Cycles is on strong financial footing thanks to strong sales and financial management. The combination of both resulted in hitting profitability for the first time in 2022 and solidifying that we as a company are in control of our own destiny. The priority of the round was to bring in strategic partners as we venture into the world of wearables and hardware development.”
While most users currently measure their daily temperature with a manual thermometer, Natural Cycles has received regulatory clearances to integrate with third party wearable technology. For example Natural Cycles now has over 32,000 users measuring with their Oura Ring with over 6 million temperatures synced. A series of validation for other third-party devices, including the Apple Watch is in the works.
In addition Natural Cycles will be launching two new Bluetooth thermometers to existing users this week. NC° Thermometer Gen2 will be available to users outside the US. US users will be able to switch to NC° Thermometer Gen3, the first hardware device developed by Natural Cycles.
