Thiv Paramsothy sees a problem in the way fertility technology is being sold to men.
The market is filling with easier tests, cleaner interfaces, and more confident promises. That growth matters because men have been ignored in fertility for too long. But convenience does not solve the whole problem. A man can get tested and still be left staring at a semen analysis report he does not understand. A couple can lose months while different providers interpret similar results differently. A product can feel modern yet lack the rigor required for a serious health decision.
“Access matters, but access without interpretation is not enough,” Paramsothy says. “Men do not just need a test. They need to understand what the results mean and what they can do next.”
That is the gap Hera Fertility is trying to close. The company helps men get tested and understand their sperm health through testing paired with machine learning models that interpret semen analysis results. At the center of that work is SmartScore, Hera’s model trained on thousands of real clinical patient records and being validated through the Mayo Clinic Platform Accelerate program.
Paramsothy is careful about how he talks about AI in this space. He is not interested in using it as a marketing wrapper around a wellness product. His argument is more specific: sperm health evaluation has been inconsistent for too long, and better data can help create a more objective standard.
“AI is only useful here if it makes interpretation more consistent and more clinically grounded,” he says. “If it just makes the product sound futuristic, it does not help the patient.”
Male fertility has historically been treated as the secondary half of the fertility conversation, even though male factors are involved in roughly half of fertility cases. The default process often evaluates women first, while the male partner gets tested late or not at all. That is especially frustrating because semen analysis is faster and less invasive than many procedures women go through.
The problem continues after testing. Many men do not have a primary care doctor who will order a semen analysis. Men who do get results often do not know how to read them. Even clinicians can differ in how they interpret the same data, which means two people with similar results can leave with different guidance.
“That inconsistency is the part people underestimate,” Paramsothy says. “The test is one piece. The interpretation is where men can get lost.”
Paramsothy came to the problem after building in digital health before. His previous company, Adracare, was acquired by WELL Health Technologies. That experience gave him a direct education in regulated health care, physician workflows, patient needs, and the difference between a product that looks good and one that can survive real clinical use.
That matters now because consumer health is moving fast. AI is making tools possible that could not have been built the same way five years ago. At the same time, speed can create risk when companies ship products without enough attention to clinical validity, safety, or patient consequences.
“Health care founders have to move with urgency, but urgency is not the same as carelessness,” he says. “You can move fast while still building evidence and respecting the clinical reality.”
That mindset shapes Hera’s current roadmap. The immediate priority is finishing the Mayo Clinic validation work as a foundation for the company’s FDA regulatory roadmap. Hera is also building out its SaaS B2B side, with a focus on fertility clinics, sperm banks, and donor programs.
The long-term vision is larger than a single consumer test. Paramsothy wants Hera to become the intelligent infrastructure layer powering sperm testing across the industry. In his words, the ambition is to become the “Tempus of sperm health,” bringing the kind of data-driven infrastructure seen in other parts of precision medicine into a category that has not received the same level of attention.
“If we get this right, sperm health becomes as routine as a cholesterol check,” he says. “Every man should know where he stands early and accurately.”
That belief is personal as much as technical. When Paramsothy was selling Adracare, he asked his co-founder what he planned to do with the proceeds. The answer surprised him. His co-founder said he was using the money to have a child. Paramsothy was confused at first, then began asking more questions. The more he spoke to men his age, the more he realized how many were quietly dealing with fertility concerns without a clear path forward.
That discovery changed the category for him. It was not only a testing problem. It was a silence problem, a standards problem, and a health infrastructure problem.
He also believes sperm health should be treated as part of men’s broader health picture. Sperm quality can reflect what is happening cardiovascularly, metabolically, and hormonally. When sperm health declines, it may be an early signal that something else deserves attention.
“This is not only about helping men become fathers,” Paramsothy says. “It is also a way to bring men into their health earlier.”
Hera has raised about a million dollars from investors, including Techstars, Prosper Health, DSH Accelerator, and law firm Orrick, alongside physicians and founders. Paramsothy has also been selected for the Mayo Clinic Platform Accelerate program, attended the Rock Health CEO Summit at the NYSE, spoken on fertility and health care panels, and been quoted as an expert on modern fertility.
The real test, he says, is not attention. It is whether Hera can build tools that clinicians trust, men understand, and the industry can use.
“Fertility technology cannot just be easier,” Paramsothy says. “It has to be better, more rigorous, and more useful at the moment someone needs real answers.”
For more information on Hera Fertility, visit their website.
