Good morning! Marine Le Pen has her sights set on Macron, Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser is optimistic about her turnaround ambitions, and a fertility startup brings concierge medicine to the masses. Have a wonderful Wednesday.
– Doctor on call. When Jessica Schaefer decided to freeze her eggs, she was sent home with a “brown paper bag full of fertility drugs,” she remembers, as is standard for most women who go through the process. And while Schaefer was skilled in her chosen field of PR—she sold her firm Bevel to Avenue Z last year—mixing and injecting drugs at home was new to her.
“I ended up messing it up,” she remembers. “I took the trigger shot early.” Her doctor suggested she start the process over, but she didn’t like that idea. “It just felt like my body was cattle and my time didn’t matter,” she says. She didn’t get the results she’d hope for, and came away from the process thinking that there “had to be a better way.”
After selling her firm, known for representing Silicon Valley clients like Greycroft and Acorns, Schaefer decided to try something new: building a concierge medicine-style fertility startup that would shepherd women through the processes of egg freezing and IVF, both digitally and in person. Lushi, launching today, raised $5 million from a cohort of investors, targeting angels with personal connections to fertility treatments, including Parachute founder Ariel Kaye, Schaefer says. Schaefer put in $250,000 of her own money and says she rejected an offer from a PE firm to fund the entire raise because she found the terms too predatory.
Rather than facilitating egg-freezing or IVF on its own, the platform aims to serve as a guide to the process. While at-home injections are rote for many in the medical field or with chronic conditions that require them, Schaefer is targeting people who find the process difficult. “Nobody likes needles,” she says. She’s hired a staff of 30, including chief medical officer Mana Baskovic.
Lushi offers a basic tier of membership costing $69.99 a month, providing access to an app with an AI-powered chatbot that answers questions about fertility treatments, including topics overworked doctors don’t usually address, like the effects of diet and sleep or the mental health challenges of these procedures. The tiers go up from there, including telehealth injection training or a $5,000 membership that includes 10 in-person visits from an injection specialist. The service is launching its in-person options in five markets with a high volume of fertility treatments, including New York and Los Angeles. Eventually, Schaefer wants to open “injection bars” in the two cities for women to visit to do their shots.
While there are a lot of fertility startups out there, Schaefer believes that most—including category leader Maven, she says—mostly speak to couples rather than the “ambitious younger woman who hasn’t found her partner yet”—the type of person who would visit a future Lushi injection bar.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- Cruise control. GM, led by CEO Mary Barra, is abandoning its Cruise robotaxi business in favor of personal autonomous vehicles. Cruise will be absorbed into the GM business. Fortune
- Invest in yourself. Sallie Krawcheck is stepping down as CEO of Ellevest following a health diagnosis, she said yesterday. Krawcheck is known for her career on Wall Street before founding the investment platform focused on serving women (she was on the cover of Fortune twice). Sylvia Kwan, Ellevest chief investment officer, and Connie Hsiung, Ellevest’s current chief operating officer and chief financial officer, will become co-CEOs. Fortune
- Le Pen's politics. Marine Le Pen helped push out France’s prime minister via a no-confidence vote last week—she’s now eyeing the country’s president, Emmanuel Macron. “It’s up to the person concerned, by himself, to decide whether he should stay,” said Le Pen. Macron does not intend to resign. New York Times
- Progress report. Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser is more than halfway into her five-year goal of turning around the bank. She has restructured, reduced her workforce, and focused more on wealth management, among other efforts. “We aren’t done,” said Fraser. “So I can’t give ourselves a grade yet.” Bloomberg
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
BookNook, a tutoring solutions provider, named Kristin Werk CEO. Prior to serving as interim CEO, she was the company’s COO.
Surf Air Mobility, a regional air travel company, appointed Deanna White as CEO and COO. She was previously the company’s interim CEO and COO; before that, she was CFO.
Expedia Group appointed Shilpa Ranganathan as chief product officer. Most recently, she was corporate vice president at Microsoft.
Bain & Company named Sarah Elk the Americas leader of its AI, insights, and solutions practice. Previously, she was global leader of the firm’s people and organization practice.
Thumbtack, a home maintenance and improvements company, appointed Susan Rammelt as chief legal officer. Most recently, she served as chief legal officer, EVP of business affairs and corporate secretary at SmileDirectClub.
Standard Meat Company named Jill Hunter senior director of sales operations. Previously, she was director of industrial and strategic accounts at High Liner Foods.
ON MY RADAR
Billionaire Harvard dropout powers female family office boom Bloomberg
Amy Adams, Marielle Heller and how Nightbitch speaks to women New York Times
For Nikki Glaser, comedy is easy. Living is hard Rolling Stone
PARTING WORDS
“I don’t believe leaders are born. I believe leaders are trained.”
—AMD CEO Lisa Su, Time's CEO of the year, on investing in her team