Roman is a startup that delivers erectile dysfunction meds to your door

Roman is a new startup that wants to help diagnose anyone suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED) without setting foot in the a doctor’s office. The startup provides a discreet platform online for guys to get erectile dysfunction care without feeling embarrassed. Roman is a direct-to-consumer men’s health company.  The New York-based Roman was founded in 2017 by Zachariah Reitano, Rob Schutz and Saman Rahmanian. The founders are made up of  doctors, pharmacists, dads and sons. The idea behind Roman started out of necessity when Zachariah Reitano, who was 17 at the time,  realized something was wrong with his health. He was suffering from erectile dysfunction disorder, most often associated with men three times his age. It’s a very personal story for me,” Reitano told Men’s Health back in 2017. “I experienced erectile dysfunction when I was 17, but fortunately I had a father who is a physician and an expert in sexual health so I felt comfortable enough bringing it up to him.”

Latest statistics show that life expectancy for women is 81. For men it’s 76. Men are half as likely as women to go to 
a doctor over a 2-year period. Only 30% of men who experience ED get it treated. 80% of Viagra purchased online is counterfeit. 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. 1 in 39 will die from it.  Roman is trying to reverse the current trends in men’s health. The company target customer is a 25 to 45-year-old man.

“We’ve discovered that we live in a culture in which men do not voice their health concerns. It starts with erectile dysfunction, but the consequences extend beyond an unsatisfying sex life. It’s not just men who suffer; silence takes a toll on our relationships. And if men stay quiet for too long, the consequences can be fatal. We know that we can transform this culture. If we help men tackle their health with the same tenacity they tackle other problems,” the company said on its website.

Reitano, together with his co-founders Saman Rahmanian and Rob Schutz, built Roman from the ground up as an end-to-end online service for men’s personal health. Their cloud platform handles everything from online diagnosis to delivery of medication for the 30 million men in the United States who suffer from ED. Roman’s website is fairly easy to use. The process starts with you select your medical preference. You could even share your medication preference with physicians. Then A dynamic online visit assesses your medical history, sexual health, current medications, allergies, and symptoms. You then verify your identity by taking a picture of yourself and a photo ID. After the photo ID is uploaded, A U.S. licensed physician will then review your answers and determine if ED medication is safe and appropriate. They may follow up with questions. If a prescription is appropriate, the Roman Pharmacy Network will ship your medication in their discreet packaging to your door and refill automatically monthly or quarterly, as necessary. You can choose your own pharmacy, as well.

Roman has raised $3.1 million in funding. The current investment is led by General Catalyst that also includes Slow Ventures, Initialized Capital, Box Group and Slow Ventures, as well as other investors. “Our mission is to provide the most seamless and affordable way for men to receive treatment, and to start them on the path of identifying the root cause and improving their overall health,” says Reitano. “We handle everything from online diagnosis to the convenient delivery of medication for erectile dysfunction, a condition experienced by over 30 million men,” says 26-year-old Zachariah Reitano, co-founder and CEO of Roman. “I was one of them.”