Healthcare technology company Emme closes $2.5M seed round and announces launch of integrated tech-enabled birth control solution
Incubated at Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign, Emme's first offering aims to address unplanned pregnancy by improving pill adherence and management
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- AUG 25, 2020 -- Emme, a healthcare technology company focused on women's health, today announced the launch of the Emme Smart Case, an integrated solution designed to reduce the 9% failure rate of birth control pills. The smart technology device solves the most significant issue with birth control pills women face – pill adherence. The Emme Smart Case is now available for purchase at www.emme.com, and the Emme Pill and Health tracking app is available in the App Store.
The company also announced $2.5M in seed funding led by Magnetic Ventures with participation from existing investors. The firm's founding partner, Christine Aylward, joined the board, along with experienced healthcare innovator and Evidation CEO Deborah Kilpatrick. Christine and Deborah bring to Emme extensive experience in the medical device, digital health, and pharmaceutical industries.
Approximately 10 million women use the pill in the United States each year for contraception and health management. While the pill should be taken on time every day to be effective, 80% of women miss at least one pill per month. "Emme is the first company to offer a comprehensive and complete birth control solution," said Christine Aylward, Founder and Managing Partner of Magnetic Ventures. "Many companies deliver pills, but no other company can tell you when to take the pill, and when you should use back-up contraception to help avoid getting pregnant. It may seem simple to be compliant with pill management - but pregnancy rates while on the oral contraception prove it's not."
People on the pill currently rely on memory, alarms, or apps. Unfortunately, missed pills are prevalent with these solutions because they are subject to user error and alarm fatigue. Motivated to solve this pressing healthcare issue, Amanda French and Janene Fuerch, MD, co-founded Emme in 2017 during their fellowship at Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. "Missed pills result in nearly one million unplanned pregnancies in the United States each year. They also disrupt hormone balance causing side effects such as bleeding, nausea, mood changes, and headaches," French shared. "After hearing stories from hundreds of women about the stress of the pill, I knew we could help improve the effectiveness of the pill by solving the problem of adherence with technology."
Emme offers the first integrated system, which removes the burden of remembering to take the pill and notifies at-risk users when back-up contraception is needed. The Emme Smart Case is compatible with more than 100 brands of birth control pills and uses patent-pending, multi-sensor technology to track when pills are taken. The smart case syncs with the app to send persistent customized reminders until the dose is taken and provides relevant health information. Users can also manage their cycles with tracking for mood, symptoms, and side effects. In beta testing, the Emme Smart Case and app drove an 80% reduction in missed pills, while 85% of participants reported improved confidence with the pill.
"Technology has evolved rapidly in the past decade," said French. "It is exciting we can now apply smart technology to improve the pill's effectiveness for millions of women to help solve the industry-wide challenge of pill adherence.
About Emme:
Emme is a healthcare technology company with a mission to put women's health in women's hands, starting with birth control. Their first product, the Emme Smart Case and app, is an integrated technology-enabled solution designed to safeguard the birth control experience and help reduce the rate of missed pills. The Emme Smart Case uses patent-pending, multi-sensor technology to track when pills are taken. The smart case syncs with the app to send persistent customized reminders until the dose is taken and provides contraceptive guidance when needed. The app also offers users a comprehensive view of their health by supporting cycle, mood, and side effect tracking. Emme was co-founded in 2017 by Amanda French and Janene Fuerch, MD. The pill forever changed women's health in 1960—Emme is making it compatible with the 21st century. For more information, visit https://www.emme.com.
Read our interview with Emme’s co-founder and CEO Amanda French on our blog here.