London-based Tuune, a femtech startup that leverages AI and biological testing to match women with the most suitable contraception option, announced that it has bagged $4.6M (approx €3.98M) in a fresh round of funding led by venture capital firm Octopus Ventures.
The proceeds from this round will help the company to launch its product in the US market. The funds will also enable Tuune to build a more individualised medical system that puts hormones first, and claims it will transform the future of healthcare for all women and people with cycles.
Tuune’s team includes leading experts in precision medicine, science, and engineering, and is backed by prominent organizations including Google for Startups.
“Birth control with you in control”
The company says that one in two women suffer side effects from their birth control – and with more than 244 options available, knowing which one to pick can feel like a gamble. This is where Tuune wants to make a difference.
According to the company’s research, 85 per cent of women don’t think their doctor spends enough time to find the best birth control for them, 52 per cent of women, globally, experience side effects from their birth control, and 43 per cent of women believe they have a hormone imbalance but can’t get a doctor to diagnose it.
Tuune says its clinicians use its proprietary technology to provide insights and recommendations of birth control for women, based on comprehensive health history, lifestyle preferences, and hormone analysis. The company claims that this individualised approach helps women alleviate their hormonal symptoms and conditions, including endometriosis, anxiety, weight gain, and acne.
Recollecting her memories, Shardi Nahavandi, co-founder of Tuune, says, “After being misdiagnosed with cancer and dismissed by many healthcare professionals, I knew I had to not only advocate for myself but for all women who are told that side effects are normal. I quit my job and took on two health degrees, which is when I discovered that the root cause of my illness was a hormonal imbalance.”
A better healthcare system for women
Founded in 2018 by Nahavandi and Peter Fish, Tuune is a personalised women’s healthcare company, re-inventing the way healthcare accesses the complexity of female hormones with a focus on individuality.
The company aims to make female hormones a pillar of modern holistic healthcare and bridge the gaps in understanding of conditions like PCOS, endometriosis, and cardiometabolic, mental, and bone health.
Nahavandi adds, “At Tuune, our goal is to improve the healthcare experience for women, starting with technology that empowers them to make more informed birth control choices. We want to move away from centuries of ignoring the impact of female hormones on 50 per cent of the population. It’s important to recognise that our hormones play a fundamentally important role in our overall health, and we can use them to live better. It’s time to get answers, speak up, and expect more.”
Tunne claims its first product educates and empowers women to choose the right birth control for their unique hormones and biology.
Which birth control methods does Tuune recommend?
According to the company, its recommendation is based on the unique medical history of the user as well as their personal situation. “We’re completely agnostic, meaning we look through all available birth control methods before making our recommendation.”
Some of its options include:
- Hormonal contraceptives including the combined pill, progestogen-only pill, the patch, the ring, the implant, the injection, and intrauterine devices (IUD)
- Reversible non-hormonal contraceptives: the copper IUD
- If appropriate, other methods such as Fertility Awareness Based (FAB) methods
