The BUZZ in the fertility world today isn’t about acupuncture or some new-old ancient technique.
It’s all about GLOW today, the fertility app that Bay area based and PayPal co-founder Max Levchin has created. Glow is a free-to-download, iPhone-only app that helps women — and their partners — track ovulation cycles and other data points to predict peak fertility windows. It officially launches in the App Store today.
In addition, the Bay Area-based startup has raised $6 million in venture capital funding from Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, Jeff Jordan of Andreessen Horowitz and individual investors including Yuri Milner.
Glow goes beyond tracking ovulation cycles, sexual activity and the texture of cervical mucus. And in true Bay area style, Levchin and Glow co-founder Mike Huang have built the company with the intent to disrupt the current health-care system in the U.S., by creating a kind of insurance fund to help pay for women’s fertility treatments.
Here’s an interesting twist, app users have the option to contribute $50 a month to the Glow Fund, for a period of 10 months. If, after 10 months of using the Glow app, a woman hasn’t conceived, she can withdraw money from the Glow Fund and use it to pay for fertility treatments. Conversely, if she has gotten pregnant, she forfeits her contributions; they will go toward another user’s fertility treatments. Genius and generous!
