Stix is a direct-to-consumer startup and brand, that’s been around for a while and delivers women’s health products. The company, that’s known for its birth control test delivery service announced today the launch of its ovulation test offer. “Buying women’s health products, such as the ovulation test, can be a confusing experience for anyone,” says Stix’s co-founder, Jamie Norwood. “With Stix, we hope to help women understand that they are not alone, and there is a community of other women around them with the same concerns. With the 30% MoM growth Stix has seen over the past year with the pregnancy test, we are confident our ovulation test will be a continued source of security and self-awareness for women.”
Co-founders Cynthia Plotch and Jamie Norwood started working on Stix four years ago after meeting through the Venture for America fellowship. After spending nights and weekends researching and talking to women about their oftentimes terrible experience buying and taking pregnancy tests, they decided to build what is now Stix, pregnancy tests delivered straight to the customer’s doorstep. Today they are adding a new product line: ovulation tests.
We caught up with co-founders Cynthia Plotch and Jaime Norwood to learn more about Stix, the idea behind the company and plans for the future.
Hi Cynthia & Jamie, Thanks for making time for this interview! Can you tell me a little more about yourself and Stix?
C&J: Thanks for having us! Jamie and I have been coworkers and friends for the past five years. We worked together at another consumer startup and knew we wanted to start something for ourselves one day. We’re so excited to be working on Stix now — a new brand for women’s health, starting with a pregnancy test and (now!) an ovulation test.
You and your cofounder met quite a while ago, while working for another direct-to-consumer company. Why did you decide to focus on a women’s health and pregnancy tests.
C&J: Jamie & I have always been passionate about access to quality health care for all women. We were motivated to make women’s lives better, but didn’t discover the best way to do that until I had a crazy experience – I ran into my boyfriend’s mom while I was buying a pregnancy test (still blushing about that one). After that experience, Jamie & I realized how broken these products are and set out to fix it.
What is the advantage of Stix and who are your customers? What’s the most common use case?
C&J: Stix brings customers peace of mind through a delightful customer experience, educational resources, and a strong community. We make a products for all women, whether they’re trying to get pregnant or not. We see a lot of subscriptions from women who have irregular periods and want some peace of mind as well as subscriptions from women trying to get pregnant.
How has your previous experience in the D2C space helped you in this venture?
C&J: We say all the time that we couldn’t have started Stix without our previous experience. By working together for years, we learned how to work effectively together, and that we make a great team. We learned the ins and outs of building a delightful customer experience, how to gather and listen to customer feedback, and how to build a community.
You recently announced the addition of ovulation tests to your product line-up. Why did you decide to expand and are other additions planned?
C&J: Because we realized our customers needed it. We started hearing from customers that they wanted a better way to test for ovulation. We were getting emails from customers hourly, so we knew we needed to prioritize launching the ovulation tests.
You are rasing a seed round and participated in the Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator in New York. We sometimes hear from femtech founder, that it is hard to raise money for a business in the women’s health space. What has your experience been like?
C&J: Raising money is hard. Then it becomes infinitely harder as an all female team – less than 3% of VC funding goes to female founders. To top it all off – we’re talking about products that most investors have never used and problems they have never experienced. While it’s hard, we’re so lucky to have other women’s health companies pave a path for us. We’re excited to be following in their footsteps.
What can we expect from Stix in 2020? Are you planning to raise another round?
C&J: In 2020 you can expect a lot. We’ll have more exciting updates soon. 🙂
