One in eight American families struggle with fertility, and the issue is personal on the Incite team. We believe everyone should have options when deciding whether, when, and how to grow their families—and we see this space as one ripe for innovation. Our own efforts in this category have ranged from supporting campaigns like PL+US (Paid Leave for the US) to funding startups focused on fertility. We get excited about entrepreneurs making it more accessible to start and support families.
In startups, we often celebrate founders who turn their lived experience of challenge into remarkable companies. That's exactly why we invested in Gina Bartasi and her vision for Kindbody. Accessible fertility is personal for Gina: she became the mom of twin boys through her own fertility journey with IVF, and there are two other sets of IVF twins in her family. Making the gift of family more widely available has motivated Gina to start not just one, but two category-defining companies that demonstrate why this important service is also good business.
Gina was recently featured in the Inc. Female Founders 100 list, and we’re eager to share more of why we admire her work and leadership.
Proven Leadership and Expertise
“I believe in strengths-based leadership: rather than focus on weaknesses, we should build teams that focus on strengths that fill others’ gaps. The only true, repeatable key to success is hard work and humility—asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.”
- Gina Bartasi
Kindbody makes the fertility journey more accessible, intuitive, and empowering for all: its clinics offer services ranging from egg freezing and IVF to gynecology, wellness, and LGBTQ+ care, and it ensures fertility treatment is no longer just for high-income white women.
Equally important is Gina’s track record as a proven founder in the space. Her previous company, Progyny, which offers a fertility benefits management solution for employers, went public in 2019 and today has a market cap of over $5B. Not only can Gina identify solutions, she knows how to build companies from the earliest stages into scaled businesses.
We were thrilled to be among the first to make a significant early investment in Gina’s vision for Kindbody, and joined an impressive cap table with all women investors. Since then, Kindbody has flourished: the company raised a $62 million Series C in June, employs 350 people across its clinics and corporate offices, and will open its 25th brick-and-mortar clinic next year.
A Product for the Future of Healthcare
“Healthcare is moving in the direction of preventive care instead of reactive care, and our mission at Kindbody is to help more women become proactive about their fertility health too.” - Gina Bartasi
Kindbody shows what a new generation of healthcare, built with a deep understanding of the patient, can look like. Its proprietary technology enables effective, high-touch care, including a medical records platform that uses machine learning to improve patient outcomes. Patients have instant access to digital records and a telehealth platform, and receive “whole person” support for physical, mental, and emotional needs.
In building Kindbody, Gina has focused heavily on the experiential aspect of the product. Walk into a Kindbody clinic and you’ll feel immediately at ease: the bright, welcoming atmosphere is a far cry from a sterile doctor’s office. Under Gina’s leadership, Kindbody has grown into a recognizable brand associated with unique, high quality care.
Kindbody’s clients love it: the company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) is 92. Companies love it too: Kindbody offers a seamless fertility benefit solution to employers; its 70 clients range from SpaceX to Tesla to Princeton.
Growing Accessible, Empowering Care
“For too long, IVF and fertility treatments were for the 1 percent. We want to make fertility treatment affordable and accessible and available to all regardless of ethnicity and socioeconomic status.” - Gina Bartasi
Creating equity and access is a core part of Kindbody's values, and business strategy.
Kindbody first launched a mobile clinic in 2018 to bring care directly to patients. The company has opened 11 brick-and-mortar clinics since then, prioritizing “fertility deserts,” or places with high need and long wait times to see fertility doctors, such as Atlanta. Demand for services has grown during the pandemic, including an increase in single parents and same-sex couples looking to have children. Kindbody plans to more than double its number of clinics in 2022.
Kindbody also offers free services and different price points to increase accessibility. Anyone can pop in for a free initial blood test to measure ovarian reserves—a procedure that should be part of a regular standard of care, but often isn’t. The company’s proprietary technology and direct-to-consumer approach keeps costs an average of 30% lower than industry standards.
As the founder, Gina knows accessibility is more than cost and location: people need to see themselves reflected in their healthcare providers. All of Kindbody’s physicians are women, half of all employees identify as BIPOC, and more than 15% identify as LGBTQ+. Gina has also woven support for nonprofits tackling systemic healthcare inequity into the company's work, such as donating services in partnership with organizations like Fertility for Colored Girls.
We’re excited to see Kindbody as part of the movement towards reenvisioning healthcare—and especially reproductive health—that is accessible and empowering for more of us.
Check out Kindbody for yourself! And if you know of other founders like Gina we should talk with, send us a note and let us know!
