WHAT’S NEW …. IN OUR CLINIC NETWORKS
The problems at Kindbody appear only to grow
In one of the organization’s usual e-mail, Insider Reproductive Health published an interesting update on the tumult that has been keeping busy what once was considered one of the most successful IVF clinic chains in the U. S., - Kindbody. After at its peak reaching a market valuation of over $ 1 billion (yes, you are reading correctly!), the company’s value today is only a fraction of that (1).
It has been some time since we reported on this company after the executive suit underwent a significant shake up. But shakeups have continued ever since. After initially having no problems raising funds and indeed receiving over $300 since its founding, the company during 2024 failed in an attempt to raise an additional $50 million. After this happened, the Internet was overrun by reports that the company was looking for a buyer; but nobody was apparently willing to come to the rescue, because, as Inside Reproductive Health now reports, the company is “quietly” trying to raise another $75 million, after prior raises for smaller sums apparently failed.
All of this is, of course, not a good sign but does not come as a surprise. Kindbody recently shut down six of its clinic sites in Los Angeles, Columbus, Ohio, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland, Oregon, and Southfield, Michigan. In addition, the company has failed in recruiting a new CEO, after the last one resigned after a short stint (Gina Bartasi was the founder and initial CEO of the company), and the enterprise is currently co-managed by three senior executives.
The most important among the many unanswered questions behind the upheaval at Kindbody, goes, however, far beyond Kindbody. And that question is whether the poor financial performance of Kindbody is isolated and, possibly only the consequence of poor management, or is also reflective of what is happening among other IVF clinic chains in the U.S. There exist by now probably more than a dozen of such IVF clinic networks in the U. S. and rumor has it that several among them are looking for a buyer. In other words, are IVF clinic chains greatly overvalued? We would not be surprised if the answer was yes!
Reference
Shinkman R. Inside Reproductive Health. February 20. 2025.