According to TechCrunch, fertility startup Inito has raised $29 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Bertelsmann India Investments and Fireside Ventures, bringing the company’s total funding to around $45 million. Since launching its first fertility monitor in 2021, Inito has analyzed over 30 million fertility hormone data points. The new capital will be used to scale manufacturing, grow globally, and invest heavily in developing AI-engineered antibodies. Co-founder and CTO Varun A Venkatesan explained that this approach involves designing synthetic antibodies with AI before making them in a lab. CEO Aayush Rai stated the goal is to evolve from a fertility tracker into a broader at-home health diagnostics platform.
The antibody-as-software play
Here’s the thing about most diagnostic tests: they rely on antibodies, those little proteins that bind to a specific target molecule like a hormone. The traditional way to get them is, frankly, a bit archaic. You grow them in animals and then manually screen them. It’s slow, expensive, and the results aren’t always super sensitive or consistent. That’s a huge bottleneck for creating new, accurate at-home tests.
Inito’s big bet is that AI can treat antibody design more like software development. Predict protein folds in 3D, simulate millions of variants virtually, and only then produce the best candidate in the lab. If it works as promised, that’s a fundamental shift. It could mean tests for a wider range of biomarkers, with better accuracy, developed faster and cheaper. That’s the core tech they think will let them expand beyond fertility.
Beyond “trying to conceive”
So, what does this actually mean for users? Inito’s vision is pretty expansive. They’re not just adding a new test here or there. Rai talks about a platform for the “full spectrum of hormones that shape health across a lifetime.” We’re talking about tracking pregnancy progression, navigating menopause, monitoring broader endocrine markers like testosterone—all from the same little reader and app they already have.
That’s a smart pivot. The fertility market gets you in the door, often with highly motivated users. But then what? If they can become the go-to home device for hormone monitoring throughout a woman’s life, that’s a much stickier, more valuable business. It transforms from a product you use for a few months into a lifelong health companion. Ambitious? Absolutely. But the funding suggests investors believe the underlying antibody tech might just make it possible.
The real test isn’t just tech
Now, let’s pump the brakes for a second. Designing a sensitive antibody with AI is one thing. Getting a whole new class of at-home diagnostics through the FDA’s regulatory maze is a completely different beast. Each new test claim will need validation and approval. That’s a costly, time-consuming process that has sunk many a health tech dream.
And there’s another question: will people actually use it? There’s a big difference between tracking hormones when you’re actively trying to conceive and doing routine hormone monitoring during menopause. The value proposition and user motivation change dramatically. Building that kind of proactive, ongoing engagement in healthcare is notoriously difficult. The tech might be cool, but behavior change is the ultimate bottleneck. Still, if anyone can crack this model, it will probably start with a foundation in reliable, hardware-enabled diagnostics. You can learn more about their current offerings at their website.
