Dr Louise Rix, a former VC at Forward Partners, is stepping into the startup world and taking up a new role as chief medical officer at FemTech Béa Fertility.
Co-founded by Tess Cosad, embryologist David O’Rourke and product engineer George Thomas, Béa Fertility is developing clinical-grade, at-home fertility treatments for people who are struggling to conceive naturally.
Earlier this year the startup raised $1 million in pre-seed funding, led by Calm/Storm VC and joined by Q Ventures, to expand the team and bring its pioneering fertility solution to market.
Dr Rix (pictured, left, with CEO Cosad) will help to develop Béa’s hardware and digital fertility products, and also lead on the creation of educational content and resources to support users on their fertility journeys. She will also drive Béa Fertility’s go-to market strategy for the product launch in summer 2022.
“In my time at Forward I’ve looked at thousands of decks and spoken to hundreds of businesses. None have interested or excited me quite so much as what Tess and the team at Béa are building,” said Dr Rix.
“Infertility is a big and growing problem. It’s extremely painful for the people who experience it. Of the women who struggle to conceive, 50% say it is the single most upsetting event of their lives. Yet we don’t talk about it enough and the systems and treatments in place to support these women haven’t changed significantly for years.
“Béa is on track to completely transform how we approach fertility care; helping to ease the pain for families by bringing education, support, transparency and affordability to the market.
“I’m really excited to be a part of this journey and to be able to make a tangible difference to women’s lives within a sector I’m so passionate about.”
A qualified medical doctor who spent several years on the NHS frontline, Dr Rix spent three-and-a-half years at Forward Partners.
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Cosad added: “We couldn’t be more excited to be welcoming Louise onto the team. Her wealth of knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm for what we’re building knows no bounds and we’re incredibly honoured that she has chosen to join us at this crucial time in the evolution of the business.
“She’s going to play a key role in helping us educate women about their fertility and the options available to them. She’s also going to help us further our fundamental goal of creating new fertility pathways so that people don’t have to go through invasive and expensive fertility treatments right at the start of their fertility journeys.
“We’re all so excited to be working with Louise – and we cannot wait to see where she can help us take this.”