An Austin startup called EverlyWell wants to make lab testing accessible to anybody who wants to know more about their own body and health.
Rather than develop the clinical tests, or panels, on their own the company facilitates online ordering of tests by anyone who needs them, insured or not, said CEO and founder Julia Cheek.
While some of the tests are based on the analysis of a few drops of blood, those samples are run through labs and using panels that are tried-and-true, not through new and discredited providers like Theranos.
Cheek demonstrated the company’s app and service on stage at Disrupt SF today and unveiled plans to soon offer at-home STD tests, tests that measure breast milk nutrition and tests for male fertility.
Many states require that before a consumer gets a lab test for things as simple as reading their cholesterol or lipid levels they attain physician authorization. EverlyWell complies with those rules everywhere it operates.
Customers get a kit by mail at home from EverlyWell, containing instructions about how to gather an appropriate blood, urine or saliva sample to be tested in a lab.
The eight different tests it offers today — including women’s fertility, vitamin D and cholesterol tests — are conducted and completed through partner laboratories. Results are sent to customers through the EverlyWell site or app.
According to Cheek, EverlyWell isn’t really helping customers sign up for cutting-edge new diagnostics. For a virus that’s mutating and spreading fast, like Zika, customers will still have to get tested with their physicians.
And the startup doesn’t deliver diagnoses. Instead, it sends customers their results, which they can take to a physician for evaluation and help with a diagnosis.
The test results can guide people to get in to see doctors before an issue like high lipids or cholesterol lead to a long-term illness or other problems.
EverlyWell is raising funding now to make consumers more aware of its service, as well as to expand geographically and into new areas of health.
The company previously raised $500,000 in angel funding and seed funding. It was founded in the spring of 2015.