Innovations in Contraception: From Fertility App to Male Hydrogel

Forbes highlights entrepreneurs at the forefront of contraceptive innovation, featuring a data-driven fertility app created by a former CERN physicist and a novel non-hormonal male contraceptive procedure. Elina Berglund, a Swedish engineering physicist and CERN alumna, co-founded Natural Cycles in 2013. The company developed a sophisticated algorithm to identify a woman's fertile window, offering a digital approach to family planning. The app has since attracted over 900,000 users worldwide and has secured $37.5 million in funding. Berglund, 41, remains actively involved with CERN as a member of its alumni advisory board. Concurrently, Kevin Eisenfrats' company, Contraline, is pioneering a long-lasting, reversible, and non-hormonal male contraceptive. This innovative procedure employs a hydrogel to effectively block sperm. Based in Charlottesville, Virginia, Contraline has raised $3.1 million to further develop its technology, with targeted approval for the procedure anticipated in 2021. Eisenfrats, an alumnus of the University of Virginia, was recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Healthcare in 2018, underscoring the company's significant impact on advancing male-focused reproductive health solutions.