Stix, offering fertility and pregnancy tests bags US$ 1.3M in seed funding

Philadelphia-based Stix has bagged US$ 1.3M in a seed funding round held in August 2020, from investors namely, BDMI, Rogue Women’s Fund, Vamos Ventures, Founders Factory New York and Angel Investors like Heidi Zak (ThirdLove), Laurence Franklin (Coach) and Steve Gutentag and Demetri Karagas (30 Madison).

Stix is a women’s health brand focusing on providing affordable fertility and pregnancy tests as well as access to educational resources relating to the same and one’s health & wellness. Started in 2019 by Cynthia Plotch and Jamie Norwood, their basic aim is to make testing for pregnancy and ovulation stress-free for women.

In 2018, Plotch, along with former coworker Norwood, realized that 70 percent of women purchasing pregnancy tests had pretty unpleasant experiences, either because of unexpectedly bumping into someone known or high costs. With a motivation to make women’s buying experiences more pleasant, private, and inexpensive, the two created Stix, a women’s health brand bringing pregnancy and ovulation tests straight to consumers’ doors. 

Customers can purchase these tests online, where the pregnancy test costs US$13, and includes two tests, free shipping and instructional materials. The ovulation test, which includes seven tests, costs US$17. Subscription options that can be canceled anytime are also available for US $10.79 and US $14.11. Along with the tests, one can find easy-to-follow instructions and educational content recommended by gynecologists.

The company has also taken important steps to guarantee that the delivery of these products is unobtrusive for customers who don’t want their roommates, whether it’s a live-in partner or parent or just a regular roommate, to know they’re buying a pregnancy test. To achieve the same, the startup uses PayPal to stay anonymous on the credit card bill and doesn’t mention “Stix” on the return address of the dispatched products.

CEO Plotch was quoted to say, “We believe that all women deserve access to these products and peace of mind throughout the experience. So, unlike other brands, we don’t focus on the outcome of the test. We don’t care whether or not you’re trying to get pregnant. We just want to make sure that you have accurate results and the information that you need to understand them.”

Stix’s tests are OBGYN- and FDA-cleared and everything they create, from the instructions to the P.R. language is evaluated by the FDA (U.S Food and Drug Administration) first. Plotch claims that both the pregnancy tests and ovulation tests are more than 99% accurate.

Stix also offers the Stix Library, available online on its website which includes content around Stix products like pregnancy, ovulation, birth control, and more all-purpose health information. Plotch feels that the startup gives them an opportunity to bridge various gaps pertaining to the lack of proper sex education in the USA.

Stix is currently a team of three women, and also plans to use the newly obtained capital to continue growing the team, which is at present 100% white. The company also claimed that they are committed to promoting diversity and they will certainly “look very different” in the coming future.

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