#StartupsEverywhere: Dr. Serhii Zatsarynin, Co-Founder, Ovulio
This profile is part of #StartupsEverywhere, an ongoing series highlighting startup leaders in ecosystems across the country. This interview has been edited for length, content, and clarity.
Enhancing fertility awareness with AI
The science of reproduction is critical to family planning. As infertility rates increase, there is a greater need for effective diagnostic testing to ensure viable pregnancies. Enter Dr. Serhii Zatsarynin, his fellow Ukrainian founders, and their product, Ovul–a reusable digital microscope and cloud-based AI to test for ovulation. We sat down with Serhii to discuss his product, his experience immigrating to the U.S., and the unique funding struggles facing FemTech.
Tell us about your background. What led you to Ovulio?
Sometimes it’s hard for people to become pregnant; this is a part of the global depopulation problem, which has a lot of consequences. One of the consequences for people wanting to get pregnant is that they need to test for a hormonal state called ovulation, and it needs to be tested almost daily.
In my professional life, I was a country business lead for Siemens Healthineers in Ukraine. I was driving the development and distribution of top-notch diagnostic tests. Yet back at home, the ovulation tests we get are on flimsy, single-use urine sticks.
There is a lot of waste in time and products generated. I say to my wife: “This is not a diagnostic, and there has to be a better way.” This is what led us to create the fertility tracker, Ovul.
What is the work you all are doing at Ovul?
In 1945, scientists discovered that when the hormone estrogen rises during ovulation, saliva dries up in a very specific pattern. That pattern can be identified and tracked under a microscope.
The problem for many years was that a microscope is not something many people have at home, and you have to train yourself for what kind of patterns you’re looking for. Our product, Ovul, is a reusable digital microscope that connects to your phone, where those patterns are analyzed by our trained AI on the cloud. In 42 minutes, you can tell whether or not you’re ovulating directly on your phone.
This is almost century-old science enhanced with AI. Saliva patterns can also reveal the levels of other hormones in your body. We want Ovul to become a lifestyle partner for every woman, to help her understand the hormonal changes throughout her lifetime, and to help her live her best life.
We started selling our product last summer. We started exclusively in the U.S., and we now have a distributorship in Ukraine and are building additional distributorships in Europe. We are also exploring expansion into the South African and Asian markets. However, the U.S. is our primary market; 33.6 percent of the global evaluation testing market is here. Our goal is to direct, improve, and build value in the U.S. and then spread it to the world.
Can you talk more about your experience immigrating to the U.S. from Ukraine?
The Russians invaded Ukraine as we were trying to conceive our third child. So we needed to make a decision for our family. After my service in the Ukrainian Army, we applied to a program under the Department of Homeland Security called Uniting for Ukraine. An American family in Minnesota welcomed us into their home and has been hosting us ever since.
I am extremely grateful to the U.S. for their support of Ukraine. My wife and kids joined me after our third child was born. After the changes in government, we don't know what will happen with that program. I have applied for the Employment-Based-2 National Interest Waiver visa because I am building Ovulio here in the U.S. and our manufacturing is local in Minnesota. Despite all of this, the progress has been very slow.
How has it been attracting investors to a FemTech company? Have you encountered any challenges unique to the space?
We bootstrapped $300,000 as a pre-seed last year. We achieved a lot of milestones and now we are raising our seed. Investment is something that is not always working as smoothly as expected.
We are working to raise $3 million; we have seven VCs that have committed to participate in our round, but none of them can lead the round for women’s health and the business-to-consumer segment, because they either need a lead investor or they do not have the experience.
We are the only company researching how hormonal levels change throughout the menstrual cycle, especially during ovulation. We have some great science from the past century, but we still don’t understand the precise moment of ovulation because there is a lack of evidence due to a lack of research. Everyone we talk to, whether it’s a women’s health-focused VC or a general VC, says they won’t invest without a firm who takes the lead, but all of them say they don’t have the experience to take the lead.
What are your goals for Ovulio moving forward?
I strongly believe that all diagnostics should follow the patient. So this is what we are doing with Ovulio. We want to be near the people and help them all understand what's going on, why it is going on, and what to do with that.
Our main goal is to equip at least half of the population with our devices, but maybe we will find the other values for the other half along the way. We want to make diagnostic tests as accessible and as affordable as possible for every woman. Our whole mission is to be near the people and help them live their best lives.
All of the information in this profile was accurate at the date and time of publication.
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