Resources

Our investment in Overture

10 Jun 2021

By Luke Hakes

Investment thesis

One in seven couples struggles to conceive. And infertility is only expected to rise as parenthood is increasingly delayed until later in life.

In the USA, an IVF cycle currently costs approximately $16k, yet only has a 35% success rate. Those couples who are successful, usually go through an average of three cycles at a total cost in excess of $50k to get pregnant.

There has been relatively little technological innovation in ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) in 40+ years. Overture is changing that with no less than four innovations in the pipeline.

Overture is looking to democratise reproductive rights by making assisted reproductive technology, such as IVF, more accessible and affordable for everyone by developing a fully automated ‘embryology lab in a box’.

The team is outstanding. Martin Varsavsky (CEO) is a serial entrepreneur, motivated in part by his personal experience of IVF, and founded Prelude Fertility, now the largest chain of fertility clinics in the US; another co-founder, Dr. Santiago Munne (Chief Innovation Officer), helped develop the first Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) method, which is used in 40% of all IVF cycles in the USA today.

Who are the pioneers?

Overture was co-founded by Martin Varsavsky (CEO) in 2017. Martin is a serial entrepreneur who has built and exited several companies over the past 30 years (including three unicorns), where he most recently founded Prelude Fertility, now the largest chain of fertility clinics in the US. Martin’s co-founders Dr. Santiago Munne (Chief Innovation Officer) and Dr. Jose Horcajadas (Chief Scientific Officer) are both well-respected thought leaders and entrepreneurs in the field of human reproduction having written dozens of scientific papers and books on the subject. Santiago was also part of the founding team that developed the first Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) method, a test which involves an invasive embryo biopsy and which is used in 40% of all IVF cycles in the USA today. Santiago and Jose previously co-founded Recombine, a company which offered carrier screening for over 300 genes and which they eventually sold to CooperSurgical in 2016.

Why us?

Having spent many months researching the fertility market and landscape, we believe that Overture is the most exciting company in this space, led by a best-in-class founding team. Our deep dive into the fertility ecosystem, talking to dozens of thought leaders, founders, scientists and investors over many months, resulted in this thesis-driven investment.

We believe this is an exciting opportunity to invest in a world-class team, on its mission to increase accessibility and affordability to assisted reproductive technologies. Overture looks set to not only revolutionise a category but also change many people’s lives for the better.