Men's fertility startup Legacy has landed $10 million in a Series A funding round led by FirstMark Capital.

As part of the deal, FirstMark Capital's Rick Heitzmann, who serves as the founder and managing partner, will be joining the company's Legacy Board.

In February of 2020, Legacy announced a $3.5 million seed funding round. This new infusion of cash brings the Boston-based company's total funding pot to over $15 million.

WHAT THEY DO

Legacy is born out of the Harvard Innovation Labs incubator program and focuses on helping men understand their fertility. Clients can send away for a mail-order kit, which is able to preserve semen for up to 48 hours. Next, the customer schedules a pick-up where the sample is collected by an employee and brought to a lab, where a sperm analysis is conducted.

The company then sends the customer back a digital fertility report that gives information about sperm volume, count, concentration, motility and morphology. Clients also get information about the option to freeze their sperm in a cryogenic storage facility. Legacy lets customers opt for just the analysis or one of its sperm freezing plans.

The company said it caters to a range of patients and gives as examples individuals going through cancer or testosterone therapy, or transgender patients interested in preserving their sperm.

WHAT IT'S FOR

Legacy plans to use the new funds to increase its geographical footprint and expand to more patients.

"Accessibility is one of our core values. We believe every person who produces sperm should be able to test, improve, and preserve their fertility. By operating at scale, we already charge prices less than half of traditional fertility clinics. And our first-of-their-kind partnerships with national insurers mean more people than ever before will get covered – with zero dollars out of pocket!" said Khaled Kteily, founder & CEO of Legacy. 

MARKET SNAPSHOT

There are scores of women's fertility startups on the market. In fact, according to a Rock Health report, 65% of all femtech funding goes toward the fertility, pregnancy or motherhood space. In fact, in 2020 venture capital firm Octopus released a report outlining the opportunity for the industry, noting that fertility-focused startups have scored $2.2 billion in investments between 2014 and 2019. 

However, a few men-focused fertility companies have come on the market. Dadi, a mail-order male fertility, testing and sperm storage company, landed $5 million in 2019. Additionally, in 2018 the NIH funded a study to use Trak, an at-home fertility test for men.