umbilical cord blood banking platform onto health raising 4.5 million
in a seed round led by 776. That's a
VC firm founded by Reddit co founder Alexis Ohanian Well
and your health offers a personalized doctor backed cord blood
bank which lets new parents free stem cells from their
child's umbilical cord so that they can be used to
treat diseases in the future. It's a process that
Angela's called Hollywood's best kept secret as celebrities like Kylie
, Jenner, serena Williams and more of all bank
their umbilical cord blood. So joining me now is
Katherine Cross, founder of Angie Health Catherine. Thanks
so much for coming on the show. Such fascinating
work that you're doing. Talk to me more about
the services that your company provides two pregnant parents.
Yeah, definitely. Thanks for having me. Um
yeah, so basically we provide the service of umbilical
cord blood cord tissue and also placenta banking. So
parents who are currently pregnant can choose to do 12
or three of those. And from there they are
able to constantly have the most personal source of stem
cells always available for them. Um so currently I
think for most people of color especially it's really difficult
to find cord blood cord tissue or placenta stem cells
and that's a pain point that my family knew personally
my brother wasn't able to find stem cells when he
needed it for historial palsy. So this problem is
something that I'm really passionate about addressing, wow,
I'm sure Catherine and just talk to me about the
process. How does it work? What's the commitment
? Is there a time commitment? Obviously. How
much and how invasive is it? Yeah. So
it's not invasive at all because the umbilical cord and
placenta are already coming out after birth. Um so
it's really the least invasive method and the least controversial
method as well of being able to extract stem cells
that are really personal that families can always save.
But basically the way that it works is around 30
weeks or by 30 weeks. We recommend that parents
move forward with us and get one of our kits
And then we send this kit to their home and
then they can just keep it in their home at
room temperature. And from there they can bring it
with them to birth. And typically a nurse or
midwife will perform the collection and it takes just about
10 minutes to actually do the collection. It's pretty
simple. I even feel comfortable doing one. Um
and then afterwards parents can call us and we will
come and meet them within 12 hours or less wherever
they are in the United States even Alaska. And
then they can be able to transport their stem cells
from where they gave birth immediately to our lab where
it's processed and cryo preserved in New Jersey. So
very similar to the process of freezing eggs or sperm
. Um But this way it's stem cells and they
can unlock future treatment options for their family. Okay
. Are there any sort of price plans Catherine for
someone who wants to do this right? Some of
these technologies do come at a hefty price. But
I think a lot of people, when it comes
to help, they're willing to pay, how can
you help? Or what are the means to help
people who do want to use this? Right?
Yeah. So we definitely have a payment plan.
So they go over the course of eight years,
but they cover 20 years of storage. So they
get 12 years free. So if they choose to
do 12 or three of the umbilical cord, blood
cord tissue and also the placenta, then it's$35
a month,$65 a month or$85 a month
. Um, and like I said, that's for
eight years and then they get 12 years free and
at that point they can choose to renew. So
one of our greatest priorities, especially for me,
given my brother's situation not being able to find stem
cells was accessibility. So we really wanted to make
sure that we have payment plans across the board in
different options. We try to work with families based
on what they're facing financially so that they can ensure
that they have stem cells in the future. You
know, I got to ask you about this.
I have so many questions Katherine, we are a
bit tight on time. So you have to come
back, you're a 23 year old. Tiktoker over
100,000 of followers. I mean that's no easy feat
in and of itself has this message resonated on that
platform? Yeah, I definitely would say so.
I think I spend a lot of time making content
about just how it works and I think people find
it to be such a revolutionary new process that a
lot of pregnant moms are just sort of drawn to
it. Um, and dad's as well and just
generally families. Um, and then I think especially
my personal story is something that resonates with a lot
of people is what I've noticed. So, um
, when I was three and my brother was one
, he was in a near drowning accident and that
gave him cereal palsy. Um, and then last
year he passed away. So I really wanted to
do something in his memory. Um, and so
I named the company after him. His name was
Andrew. So the company's name is Angela Health and
I think the fact that my family really desperately needed
cord blood stem cells just goes to show how important
it can be. So I think that in particular
is what resonates with expecting parents today. Catherine,
what an amazing story, an amazing work that you're
doing. Again. We're tight on time, but
I hope you'll come back on the show so we
can track and talk about the company's growth. That's
Katherine Cross, founder of Angela Hill. Thank you