Fertility group lands £250,000 investment
A Warwickshire-based manufacturer of fertility monitoring products has secured further investment through a £250,000 loan, enabling it to invest in its staff, continue research and development while safeguarding against the impact of COVID-19.
Fertility Focus secured the finance from The FSE Group Debt Finance Fund, part of the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF) and backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
Established in 2005, Fertility Focus specialises in the manufacturing and marketing of fertility monitoring products designed to help women who are experiencing issues conceiving.
The company has created its OvuSense platform, which predicts the onset of ovulation up to one day in advance and provides 99% accuracy for detection of the exact date of ovulation in real-time.
It also recently launched the OvuSense Pro clinical portal which helps clinicians to remotely screen for the common causes of female sub-fertility, infertility, pregnancy issues and miscarriage. OvuSense Pro also helps clinicians to monitor the effect of treatment.
Rob Milnes, CEO of Fertility Focus, said: “Health statistics tell us around 12 million women in North America and Europe start out trying to conceive each year. Of these, four million end up trying to conceive for six months or more, with a further two million moving on each year into the clinical segment. Securing additional funding is a significant step towards continuing to support women and their partners through a highly emotional journey.
“We would like to extend our thanks to Paul, at the FSE Group, for taking us through the process of securing finance from CBILS and MEIF – enabling us to help the business to navigate the impact of COVID-19 which will help us through these difficult times, maintaining key staff whilst continuing with key research to help us develop our product offering.”
Paul Lynam, fund manager, at The FSE Group, added: “Rob Milnes and the team at Fertility Focus are driven by a commitment to help women understand their reproductive cycles in order to better inform why they may be experiencing difficulty in conceiving. The product is of particular relevance at the moment as the ability of individuals to visit IVF clinics during COVID-19 has been disrupted. It has been a pleasure to support Steve, Rob and the Fertility Focus team and we look forward to seeing what the future holds.”
