At Fiat Ventures, we recognize that we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the incredible founders we back. Our capital helps seed the idea, but it’s truly the founders' tenacity, creativity and grit that bring these visions to life. We’re grateful to be a small part of their stories.
We’re fortunate to work closely with these teams of founders beyond just an investment. We also offer hands-on consulting, operating support and a deep network of advisors from the market’s leading growth consultancy, Fiat Growth and our marketplace of 150+ advisors, Fiat Advisors.
Introducing Sunfish
This month we’re shining the spotlight on one of our fastest growing portfolio companies who continue to demonstrate that it’s possible to do good and perform well - Sunfish.
Sunfish provides better financial resources for families seeking fertility treatments. The company is also the first to offer a “refund” of up to 90% for aspiring families so that they’re able to recoup some of their finances if treatments aren’t successful. This is a big deal because the variable costs of IVF (ranging from $25,000 to over $150,000) are currently borne by customers, regardless of having a baby or not. Instead, Sunfish is rolling out a membership nationally called the Gold IVF Success Program.
The U.S. market for fertility clinic services was estimated at $7.9 billion in 2022 and is forecasted to reach $16.8 billion by the end of 2028. A recent study in lower-income countries found that a single cycle costs between 50% and 200% of people’s average annual income. In the past decade, the birth rate resulting from assisted reproductive therapy (ART) grew around 6% annually as more aspiring families seek alternative treatments for building their families.
By providing modern fintech solutions, not only does Sunfish provide access to fertility treatments that would otherwise be unavailable, but the company is also developing unique datasets and paving the way for more financial tools to be developed using ML/AI. And, as these families grow, Sunfish can continue supporting their growing financial needs.
“I spent years in the Bay Area as an investor and former founder, and I was shocked that there were no solutions to help new families navigate this incredibly important but costly journey,” says Angela Rastegar, co-founder and CEO. “I left my role in venture capital; I dove into the world of fertility care. This is one of the fastest growing industries, and yet so many family building costs are paid out of pocket, leaving the burden on women and families to figure out how to afford care. Sunfish was created to allow everyone to build their family.”
Fiat Ventures first invested in Sunfish in their Seed financing round, and has participated in a subsequent round in 2023. Fiat Growth, our market leading growth consultancy, has also worked closely with the Sunfish team since early iterations of the product. They have additional backing from Walkabout Ventures, Hannah Grey and other notable investors.
Why We Invested In Sunfish
As we often say at Fiat Ventures, ideas are important but the most critical factor toward a startups success are the founders that are able to bring these visions to life.
Angela Rastegar, Sunfish’s Co-Founder & CEO, is an incredible example of excellent founder-market-fit, deep industry expertise and a passion and grit to bring her vision to life.
Prior to founding Sunfish, Angela was a Director at one of the largest fertility companies, Circle Surrogacy, where she created a lending solution for their customers. While she was able to gain traction for the product, she felt there was a need to build something new to layer in the financial complexity, empathy and care, and data analytics that was lacking from traditional personal lending platforms.
“My customers were making desperate financial decisions,” Rastegar says. “To afford reproductive care, many families would liquidate their investments or sell their 401(k)s. These decisions would have long-term consequences as their families grew - and I knew we could build a better solution to help people plan and afford care.” Since launching about a year ago, Sunfish has already seen demand in 48 states.
Prior to her most recent ventures, Angela received an MBA from Stanford’s GBS program and an undergraduate degree focused on Human Biology and Global Sexual Health from Stanford University. She’s joined by an experienced leadership team from the Fintech, Insurtech, and Healthtech industries, who’ve had multiple successful exits, including several former leaders from Bread Payments (acquired in 2020). Her education and professional background set her up for success in helping millions of aspiring families secure better financing when building their own family.
Keeping Track of Sunfish
Since closing their Seed round, Sunfish continues the national launch of their Gold IVF Success Program which includes a refund of up to 90% of costs if unsuccessful. You can keep track of Sunfish’s progress via LinkedIn.
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