This week’s episode of Funding & Disrupting presented by Oura Collective introduces the Co-Founder and CEO of Bea Fertility. Keith Herman interviews his first female guest- Tess Cosad.
Tess takes the listeners through her new entrepreneurial journey. She discusses opportunities, investments, and challenges with full zeal.
Bea Fertility: How Bea is Democratizing Access to Fertility Care?
The interview is full of insights for budding entrepreneurs. Bea Fertility brings revolutionary developments in infertility treatments for couples. Bea has the vision to provide safe and affordable fertility treatments to carry at home. Founded in January 2020, Bea managed to raise funds worth EURO 800,000 in the venture seed round.
When Keith asks Tess about the evolution of the idea behind Bea Fertility, Tess shares the backstory in detail. She tells how she and her partner, David, came together and developed the concept of in-home fertility almost instantaneously. David was working in a lab. He would see how many couples would leave the clinic disappointed and sad because of the heavy expenses of fertility treatments. David told Tess how he was working on something that could help women conceive at home.
Tess immediately loved the idea. David thought they should come together and do something with this idea. Being from a technical background, sex-tech has always interested Tess. Keith asks Tess about the actual meaning of ‘sex-tech.’ She explains it as an intersection of sex and technology.
Soon, David and Tess decided to come together and help people dealing with infertility. Tess believes it is very heartbreaking and exclusive to see people not making families because of expensive treatments. It is how the idea of Bea Fertility came out. They decided to build something that can bring fertility clinics to home. It’ll be more exclusive and privatized.
What was the process followed by Bea Fertility?
In the podcast, Keith goes ahead to ask Tess to elaborate on the process behind the formation of Bea Fertility. Tess says that David met her in the prototype stage of development. As soon as they got together, ideas started mushrooming. Also, a third co-founder joined their team.
You’ll love how Tess confidently approaches fertility problems and how their product brings the solution. She is honest and discusses how medical fertility treatments are super-expensive, and not everyone has the luxury to have them. She also openly says that their product is not very cutting-edge technology innovation. It is something old school, rekindled with innovation.
She tells how ICI was a prominent method of artificial insemination in the past. However, it got overshadowed by a more advanced fertility treatment called Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). So, Bea Fertility decided to bring the ICI treatment back, and this time at home. You’ll admire how passionately Tess talks about the complete process and her ideas.
The Challenges Tess Cosad Faced as An Entrepreneur
Being a first-time founder is tough. Keith asks Tess Cosad what she found the most challenging being an entrepreneur. Tess believes that she is scientific, creative, and confident, and this has helped her a lot through the journey. She feels that scaling and building something from scratch is an arduous task for all first-time founders.
Tess also recalls how sometimes she had to make 100 decisions in a day. She believes that one should make decisions quickly when they have the resources as ‘Perfection is the enemy of getting things done.’ Tess also shares her experience of fundraising and how hard it was for her. She advises all the new entrepreneurs to be ready to hear ‘no’ many times. Tess also jokingly refers to fundraising as a ‘valley of despair.’ She believes the graph is never constant, and no matter how prepared you are, people will reject your pitch.
It is surprising to know how Tess shortlisted the list of investors and how she created the list. In the podcast, Keith asks Tess how Bea decided who to approach as a potential investor. Tess is being candid as she feels that we are not born knowing how to raise capital. Yet, we go out and raise capital in the pre-seed round.
Tess also jokingly tells how she read books to learn the language of fundraising so the investors would know what she was talking about. Tess created a pipeline of investors she could go to and started looking for VCs and angel groups. All her hard work and ideas paid off when Calm/Storm Ventures decided to fund the company. She talks in detail about how they closed the deal in just three weeks and two meetings.
Tess Cosad: A Walk Through Her Journey
Throughout the podcast, Tess openly talks about her life and challenges. With a gorgeous smile on her face, she talks about her failures and successes.
Do you know Tess’s favorite subject in school? It was Astrophysics! From being a research analyst in astrophysics to becoming an entrepreneur, Tess has a lot to teach the listeners.
When Tess started a degree in astrophysics at a university, she soon realized it was not something that excites her. She calls it her biggest life-changing failure. However, she soon shifted to a business school and graduated there.
Tess gives very raw and useful advice to the listeners. She tells how most founders go to pitch their products. The investors are not investing in the product but your business. She advises all the founders to pitch business models and a vision to investors. Your business model should support your vision. In the case of Bea, Tess had the vision to provide everyone the fundamental right to start a family.
Tess also advises women not to wait for perfection. She asks all the women to go and follow their dreams without waiting for the right time.
Bea Fertility Story Notes
- The backstory of Bea Fertility
- Challenges faced by the firm
- Fundraising & Investment Process
- Advice for First-Time Founders