Health tech startup Dadi secures $5 million in funding to disrupt the $8.6 billion fertility industry

Dadi, a health tech startup that makes male fertility testing and sperm storage, has raised $5 million investment to expand its customer service capabilities and develop new technology. The round was led by TCG, an affiliate of The Chernin Group, with participation from previous investors firstminute Capital and Third Kind Ventures and new angel investors including Nat Turner, co-founder and CEO of Flatiron Health, and Alex Chung, co-founder and CEO of GIPHY.. As part of the funding news, Dadi also announced that TCG Partner Marco DeMeireles will also join its board.

Co-founded by Tom Smith, Mackey Saturday and Gordon von Steiner, Dadi educates consumers about male reproductive health through its accessible family planning solution. Dadi’s patented at-home fertility test and sperm banking kit provides men with a low-cost, long-term option to take control of their futures. In January 2019, Dadi launched with $2 million in seed funding.

“Over the last six months, we have been encouraged by the responses we’ve received from customers who turned to Dadi to proactively plan for healthy future families,” said Tom Smith, co-founder and CEO. “Unlike other fertility services, which can be very transactional, we are building long-term customer relationships that begin the moment they start to think about having children. It’s incredibly rewarding to be an integral part of this journey, and we’ve already seen so many different use cases for the product. Our mission continues to focus on normalizing the conversation around reproductive health, and we’ll continue to be a partner to all of our customers as they look to start families.”

Since launching, Dadi has supported thousands of customers from different ages and life stages, across all continental states, and this new funding will allow the company to expand its customer service capabilities. The new augmented capabilities for both before and after sperm collection will allow Dadi to provide more fertility education, become even more involved with customer needs, and provide greater support during the entire family planning journey. This funding will also allow Dadi to actively develop new fertility technology and service opportunities.

“For too long, men have not had an accessible and data-driven way to understand and manage their fertility,” said Marco DeMeireles, Partner at TCG. “With 40 percent of infertility cases linked to male factors, Dadi is answering a serious unmet need in family planning and creating a more balanced conversation. We’re thrilled to see the early success in the direct-to-consumer business, and we’re excited to help the team expand into the employer market to bring more parity to family planning benefits.”

In addition to this new round of financing, Dadi today announced the formation of its Science and Technology Advisory Board, comprised of leading experts in the industry — including Dr. Michael Eisenberg, Associate Professor of Urology at the Stanford University Medical Center; Dr. Jacques Cohen, Laboratory Director at ART Institute of Washington at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, who joins Dadi as Clinical Laboratory Advisor; and Dr. Grace Centola, PhD, Science Director at Dadi. This new board is aimed to advise in the latest breakthroughs in fertility testing and sperm storage.

“I’ve followed the success of Dadi closely since learning of them months ago,” said Dr. Jacques Cohen, newly appointed Dadi Clinical Laboratory Advisor. “Their crucial mission and the transformation they are bringing to the fertility industry is what drove me to accept the invitation to join their Science and Technology Advisory Board. I have always been an advocate for driving down the costs of sperm storage and fertility tests, so it was a natural fit to join Dadi as they seek to change the narrative around men’s fertility and as they expand their research and development efforts.”

Dadi’s fertility test and sperm storage kit is available online at dadikit.com for $99, with a storage subscription fee of $9.99/month or $99.99/year.