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BetaMN

BETA Startup Showcase: Fruitful Fertility

BETA Startup: Fruitful Fertility The TECHdotMN team would like to introduce you to each of the startups featured in the upcoming BETA showcase. Over the next couple of weeks, we will highlight each company, so you can get a better idea of the talent, hardwork, and dedication held within each of these startups.

The next company in our BETA Startup Showcase series is: Fruitful
Fruitful is a mentorship matching service that emotionally supports the 1 in 8 couples who experience infertility and child loss.

Tell us the story of how and why you started your company:
I like to call myself an “accidental entrepreneur” since I never really thought of starting my own company. I was always more of a “creative” and had enjoyed working as a copywriter and creative director at ad agencies my whole career. Then in 2014 my husband, Brad, and I decided to start trying to have a baby…which did NOT go very smoothly at all. The whole experience was torture for a Type A planner like myself. As we started going through invasive medical tests, crazy bills, unexpected diagnoses and disappointment after disappointment, I realized how my regular support system could not empathize at all with what we were going through or how I was feeling. The only people who knew how to support me were those who had also been through infertility, but were now on the other side of that experience. I thought it’d be awesome to have a service like Alcoholic’s Anonymous but for infertility, that could match those of us struggling with am infertility mentor…someone who had a similar diagnosis, experience and even parallel values but were no longer processing their trauma. Brad is a software engineer, so together we built v1 of Fruitful which launched in April 2017. I often talk about it like Tinder for infertility…our system suggests matches based on diagnosis, age, religion, hobbies, personality, location and so much more. Today it has helped almost 4,000 people!

What’s your most recent success or milestone hit?
We are expecting to close on our first deal with an angel group; it’s exciting to have capital to formally invest in marketing and PR. We’re also preparing to launch our Fruitful messaging app in the coming month or two.

Where do you see your startup in 1 year?
In one year I see Fruitful earning revenue. I see Fruitful partnering with a handful of fertility clinics. It’s a really exciting time! We absolutely have product-market fit, now we just need to figure out the revenue component which I feel quite optimistic about.

For more information, please visit: Fruitful Fertility

Get your tickets for the BETA Showcase on October 14 here.

Valerie Lockhart
Valerie is proud to spend her time immersed in the Minnesota tech scene, whether she’s writing articles for tech.mn, designing websites, or coordinating events for the Minnesota Women in Technology meetup group.