Nurx, a startup launched in 2014, raised $5.3 million in a Series A funding round led by Union Square Ventures. The company helps to bridge the gap when women run out of birth control and need to wait for a new prescription.
The company delivers birth control within a few hours.
Users that need on-demand birth control can download the company’s app, choose a brand, and answer a few questions. Users can enter their insurance information, or they can pay for their birth control themselves.
A review process is started at this point.
Doctors in the company’s network will review the request and write a prescription within hours. The company will then deliver the birth control at no added cost. The company attempts to prescribe a three-month supply of birth control to make the process hassle-free.
Nurx encrypts all transactions and conversations, and the company remains HIPAA compliant.
Delivery of an anti-HIV medication, PrEP, was added to the company’s service earlier this year. The company also partnered with LabCorp to help streamline the delivery process of HIV drugs. The company has worked with researchers to offer alternative forms of birth control, including the patch which offers fewer side effects than pill-based birth control.
The company operates in New York, California and Washington. The funding round will be used to hire more engineers and expand the company’s current operations.
The company was part of the accelerator Y Combinator.
Over-the-counter birth control is supported by the American College of Obstetricians of Gynecologists. Birth control is offered over-the-counter in numerous countries, but in the United States, women need to go to the doctor and receive a prescription if they want to get birth control.
Nurx hopes to help women, especially those in rural areas, gain access to birth control without the hassle of traveling long distances to see a traditional doctor. NuvaRing and Plan B are also offered.
Cash payments average $15 a month for contraceptives for users that don’t have health insurance.
