Hyivy Health raises $1.1 million in pre-seed funding

KITCHENER, Ont. – Hyivy Health, an innovative FemTech Forge client developing a first-of-its-kind pelvic health rehabilitation system has raised $1.1 million in pre-seed funding. The innovative pelvic health technology includes a multi-therapy vaginal wand, patient app, and clinician software created with the mission to address the unmet needs of the 1-in-3 women who are suffering from incurable pelvic health-related illnesses.

The oversubscribed round spans a diverse group of investors passionate about female-focused innovations including Threshold Impact, Beresford Ventures, Equation Angels, Zambon Research Venture, The51, OCI, iGan, Arch Angels, and Velocity.

Hyivy Health’s 3-in-1 innovative rehabilitation system aims to provide a prescribed protocol from Hyivy Accredited Clinicians for patients to use at home featuring auto-dilation, hot and cold contrast therapies, and self-lubrication.

Hyivy Health is the first technology to connect clinicians with patients as well as the first to collect both objective and subjective data about the pelvic floor. Patients will also have access to a Hyivy App where they can track their progress, gamify their treatment, and have on-demand virtual sessions with their therapist.

Hyivy Health was founded by Rachel Bartholomew (pictured) while she battled and recovered from cervical cancer. The company was born from the lack of holistic pelvic health care she saw for herself and the thousands of women she connected with through online support groups.

“Through my cervical cancer diagnosis and recovery, I quickly learned the hard way that women have to navigate, and are often neglected by, a broken pelvic health system that has failed millions of women for decades,” said Rachel Bartholomew, founder and CEO of Hyivy Health.

“Because we believe women deserve better, we made the decision to create a medical device rather than a direct-to-consumer device knowing it will be a more complex and costly process. We’re passionate about taking women’s health care to the next level in a space that has seen little-to-no innovation in nearly 100 years.”

Hyivy Health’s mission is to raise the bar on the standard of care for women and their pelvic health, offering trusted, proven, and effective solutions for women and their pelvic health therapists.

“Since its participation in the 4th edition of our Open Accelerator program in 2020, the potential of this innovative start-up has always been clear,” said Elena Zambon, president of Zambon Research Venture and Open Accelerator Ideator within Zcube.

“We believe in Hyivy Health and we are thrilled that Zcube – Zambon Research Venture is part of this exciting journey. We will continue to support Rachel Bartholomew and the entire team in their mission to bring better health to women.”

With capital raised in this pre-seed round, Hyivy Health will be dedicating its efforts to the manufacturability of the device, safety testing and ISO 13485 certification, regulatory approvals for the FDA and Health Canada as a Class 2 Device, and completing the upcoming clinical trial in early 2022 with McMaster University to further explore the device’s use for pelvic pain with endometriosis patients.

Hyivy Health also has plans to launch the first private, anonymous online pelvic health community where women can have a safe space to ask their pelvic health questions and can even be connected with Hyivy Accredited Clinicians.

Hyivy Health is currently recruiting both patients and clinicians for focus groups and product testing to ensure they are creating an effective, patient first, clinician friendly pelvic health rehabilitation system. To learn more or get involved, visit Hyivy Health.