Startup Highlight — Fruitful Fertility
From Elyse, Founder of Fruitful Fertility
- What’s the meaning behind your company’s name/brand?
The name Fruitful is a nod to being prolific — whether that be by having children or by simply creating a beautiful, meaningful life. I like how it speaks to fertility but is also a more conceptual idea around creation.
2. What’s great about starting something in the Minnesota region?
I love how everyone in Minnesota is incredibly supportive and wants to see you succeed. There’s really a philosophy of rising tides raise all ships that just doesn’t exist much on the coasts.
3. What’s challenging about starting something in the Minnesota region?
People in the Midwest are a bit more risk-averse so it can be harder to find funding or people willing to invest financially in really early, pre-revenue startups. Additionally, it can be tough to get real, meaningful feedback since Minnesotans also tend to be conflict-averse and want to spare feelings rather than give tough-to-hear feedback.
4. What fuels you and your company?
My passion for helping reduce the stigma of infertility and child loss, increasing access to high-quality women’s healthcare and creating emotional support communities in this space are what fuel Fruitful Fertility.
5. What stage are you at with your business?
We’re still pre-revenue but in the middle of a friends and family round of fundraising. We’ve been live since 2017 and have 4,000 users, all of whom have been acquired organically with no marketing budget. It’s been quite a ride!
6. How can the community support your work?
Spreading the word with friends and family members, helping us find press opportunities, investing money in this friends + family round, following us on social media. (Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook)
