Mixing machine learning with fertility technology could be a science fiction plot. It can also be a company. Felicia von Reden started Ovom Care in 2023 to build software to make the often strenuous IVF process more efficient and more affordable. Ovom uses artificial intelligence to help doctors determine the right medication and dosage for each patient, and even identify the most viable eggs and sperm in a patient's body. “What makes this company unique is that we have two parts: technical innovation with AI and data, and medical care at the clinic,” she said. “Only if you bring the two together can you develop innovation that brings that value to the patient.” Valued at $22 million, Ovom has brought in $8 million in funding to develop the technology.
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00:00That's what I wanted to ask you. What was the inspiration behind this? It's such an important
00:04topic to so many people and I feel like so many founders in this space have a personal
00:07connection or experience in it that made them want to innovate on it. So can you tell me a
00:11little bit about what inspired you? Absolutely. So I got myself diagnosed with severe endometriosis
00:17about two and a half years ago. That was something quite shocking at that point of time because the
00:23doctor told me your reproductive age is at least 10 years older than your actual biological age.
00:29And I was like, okay, that's interesting. And he suggested that if I ever want to build a family,
00:34I should start to look into that right away. For me back then, I was 26, I think. I was not ready,
00:43right? I mean, I want to build a career. I want to build a company. I want to build something that
00:47changes the world. So I'm not ready for that. Also from a partner perspective. So I started
00:53looking into what my pathway would look like in building a family down the line. What are my
00:57options? You know, what can I expect? Is it impossible? Is there some chances for me? What
01:02is the right thing to do? So I started looking into fertility clinics and fertility solutions
01:06and got quite disappointed because it felt like one size fits all. It's like you have a standard
01:13package of care with, you know, stimulation, hormonal injections and everything. And that is thrown at
01:19you. And then you just go with it and you do a trial run of an IVF cycle or in my case, like freezing
01:23cycle. And the lack of personalization, the lack of also personal touch and all of that, not feeling
01:30like a number, but feeling like a unique individual that is, you know, not like everyone else because,
01:35you know, every one of us has their own story. I didn't feel that. So I turned around and said,
01:40okay, if there's nothing out there that I feel really comfortable with and moving forward with,
01:44I'm going to be turning around and building what I would like to experience as a patient myself.
01:49And to be fair, most of that was also driven. And that one was probably the most shocking aspect
01:53for me. Success rates in IVF care are so low. They are so incredibly low for the whole trouble,
02:00for the cost, for all the pain that you have to go through for one cycle of IVF stimulation.
02:06It's not high enough. So, you know, I'm more a curious kind of person. So I started looking into,
02:13okay, why is that so low? Obviously, it's biology. So obviously, it's a lot also in our bodies,
02:17but other ways to improve that. So I came to the point of precision medicine. In the end,
02:25personalizing fertility care to each individual human that seeks to build a family and really
02:30optimizing the care for each person by that actually boosting the success rates.