Nurx, the “Uber for birth control,” is a startup on a mission to provide birth control to anyone who needs it—with or without insurance—in all 50 states.
Founded in 2015 by Hans Gangeskar and Edvard Engesaeth, the Nurx app is based on the idea of telemedicine, or remote health services. Users can enter some health information, have it reviewed by a doctor, and then receive their drugs by mail either at home or at their local pharmacy. So far, the service is available in 15 states and in Washington, D.C.
Nurx focuses on providing birth control, but it also gives users access to morning-after pills like Plan B and Ella, as well as preemptive HIV treatments. Naturally, this has caused some controversy in more conservative states.
At the same time, Nurx has seen a lot of success in rural areas where access to contraceptives is more restricted. These “contraceptive deserts” exist across the country, but many of them are in conservative Texas.
“Texas is our largest market every week,” Gangeskar told NBC News.
He also noted the Nurx doctors have extensive interactions with their patients. For example, Nurx doctors will walk a user through the process of getting birth control if they’ve never done it before. The drugs themselves are then sourced from the user’s local pharmacy. According to Gangeskar, it’s different than, say, purchasing birth control on Amazon.
If a user has insurance, their order from Nurx is free. The uninsured can get their orders starting at $15 for a month’s supply. Delivery takes about 3-5 days.
Given that telemedicine options like Nurx are still part of a relatively new field, the Nurx FAQ page offers answers to a variety of questions.
Nurx is one of many up-and-coming startups based in Silicon Valley. Its funding so far includes $8 million from investors like Lowercase Capital, Y Combinator, and Union Square Ventures.
Photo CC-BY-ND Sara C via Flickr
