Inside determines female fertility
Erini Rapti is the founder of femtech company Inne. Founded in Berlin in 2016, the company has developed a method to determine the progesterone level in women. With the help of a saliva test, the hormone level of the woman is determined, ovulation can be determined more precisely and the chances of pregnancy increase. Users receive the laboratory results directly via an app on their smartphone.
Interior plans expansion
CEO Eirini Rapti is currently looking for financing options to take the next step in the development of her company. In addition to expanding into the US market, the plan is to further develop the company’s own laboratory and platform to cover other areas of women’s health, according to Startbase magazine. In collaboration with Phenology, a product is to be developed that will help older women track hormone changes before menopause. A method for determining the stress hormone cortisol, which can have a negative effect on fertility, is also being considered.
Compare with Theranos
According to Eirini Rapti, the search for suitable investors is made more difficult by potential interested parties due to so-called framings, as she reports in an interview with Gründerszene. A comparison has repeatedly been drawn between her company and herself with Theranos and its founder Elizabeth Holmes. According to the biotech company Theranos, it had developed a method that could be used to determine a wide range of health values and diagnose diseases on the basis of small amounts of blood. The promises could not be fulfilled and founder Elizabeth Holmes had to answer in court for fraud. Eirini Rapti sees no reason to speculate about parallels between Inne and Theranos, the only similarities being an activity in similar business areas and the fact that a woman is, or was, at the helm of the company. But while Theranos lured investors with unfounded promises, Inne could call a functioning and proven product its own. Eirini Rapti doesn’t seem to be the only woman faced with this comparison. The New York Times reports on several founders from the biotech scene who are repeatedly associated with Elizabeth Holmes and the Theranos scandal.
N. Lorenz / Editor finanzen.net
Image sources: metamorworks / Shutterstock.com