Aavia

Aavia is a hormone health company that positions itself beyond period tracking, helping people with ovaries understand how their ovarian hormones affect daily life. Its core product is a mobile app that tracks health, behavior and mood and surfaces cyclical trends, such as the days a user experiences the highest anxiety or energy, alongside health insights, cycle trends and educational content. Users can access medically-backed articles and videos and participate in a community forum where they ask questions and share insights on topics including hormones, periods, endometriosis and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

Aavia also sells a patented smart pill case: users place their regular birth control pills in an Aavia sleeve whose sensors detect whether the pill has been taken, connecting to the app over Bluetooth and sending reminder notifications until the dose is taken. The company frames the device around adherence, citing that more than 50% of people do not take the pill on time and that over one million women in the U.S. have unintended pregnancies each year from inconsistent pill use. The app and pill case were officially launched in January 2021, following a period of beta testing.

Founding story

Cofounder and CEO Aagya Mathur has described having a very irregular period without a clear medical explanation; after being prescribed the birth control pill to regulate it, the problem was amplified, prompting her to research why. She concluded that her menstrual cycle affected more than her periods, including sleep quality, energy levels, muscle toning and mental health. While studying business at MIT in 2017, Mathur partnered with Alexis Wong, an electrical engineer, and Aya Suzuki, a fellow MIT student studying mechanical engineering and product design; the three founded Aavia a few months later.

Business model

Aavia offers a free app plus a paid premium membership, and sells hardware directly to consumers. The premium tier was priced at $8 per month or $65 per year prepaid and provides a personalized action plan based on a user's logs. The smart pill case was sold on Aavia's website for $79.

Consumer subscription revenue from premium app memberships ($8/month or $65/year) and direct hardware sales of the smart pill case ($79).

Traction

Reported that 85% of members are Gen Z, a viral TikTok post about the smart pill case in summer 2020 that drew interest in the hardware device, and cumulative funding of over $7 million as of the January 2024 Forbes profile.