Ovee is a sexual & reproductive health platform that empowers vagina-havers with premium content, curated products and the supportive community they need to decide what is right for their unique healthcare needs.
Role: Co-Founder and CEO — focused on design and creative direction
Ovee was co-founded with Courtney Snavely and Maddy Siriouthay
EXHIBITIONs + Awards
NYC Media Lab Summit 2017, Female Founders Pitch Contest, SXSW 2019 Startup Spotlight, First Prize Entrepreneurship, Stacklist Pitch Finalist, Matter VC Accelerator, Inbound Pitch Night, Johnson & Johnson CES Pitch, Forbes 30 Under 30, Puerto Rico Science and Technology Research Trust Grant
Ovee was born out of love and frustration — love (SO much love) for our fellow vagina-havers and our bodies — and the deeply frustrating, and often times isolating, experience that comes with navigating it all.
The world has shied away from our bodies, on a social, educational and political level. We whisper about our periods to our "girl" friends and hide tampons in our sleeves on our way to the bathroom. We only learn about our bodies in the context of childbearing, but not what it means to have safe sex, or what consent is or what sex that is more than just straight penis-in-vagina looks like. We grow up and realize that our bodies are a political battlefield in a war waged by people who don't care about the consequences.
Maddy, Courtney and I started Ovee because, quite simply: we've had enough.
Why ovee?
When you are experiencing a health issue, the first thing most of us do is turn to Dr. Google, where you fall down a rabbit hole of information and conflicting opinions, spanning from overly clinical, to worst case scenarios, to a million different product options.
Now, imagine you're an 18 year old vagina-haver just starting college, having sex for the very first time, and out of nowhere you start to feel like something is not quite right “down there”. Your sex-education has failed you, your friends are just as clueless as you are, and the internet is full of worst case scenarios and unpersonalized medical information. You struggle to make sense of the information overload. You can't afford a gyno visit, and since you've just moved to college, you don't even know where to go. You wish you could have peace of mind.
There is good and bad news, you’re not alone. There are nearly 33 million women age 15-29 in the U.S. alone that are experiencing huge gaps in their healthcare, while spending three times more on their healthcare than their male counterparts. We spoke with over 300 women and surveyed 1,500 more and a majority of them expressed that, from a young age, they didn't feel prepared by the information they received in sexual education courses in school, didn't trust the information they found on the internet, and were unsatisfied with their healthcare. That's a lot of time and money being wasted trying to navigate your health on a trial-and-error basis.
Our Solution
We believe that information is power and access to healthcare is a human right. Ovee is a sexual & reproductive health hub that empowers vagina-havers with nuanced, easy-to-digest information, rigorously tested and curated products, a supportive community, and the actionable steps they need to take control of their unique healthcare needs.
The content
Ovee’s approach to sex + repro education is candid, nuanced and easy-to-digest. All the information we provide should be accessible across all education levels. Our bodies are already so complicated; learning about them doesn’t have to be. We provide a combination of medically accurate yet accessible health information, and anecdotal stories so users don’t feel alone in their experiences.
Not only do we break down medical jargon, but we also guide you through the next possible steps. We answer “what’s that?” and then answer, “okay, what now?” for our community.
Ovee is an inclusive sexual and reproductive health platform for people with vaginas. We make a point to differentiate between anatomy and gender — “woman” doesn’t always mean someone with a vagina, and someone with a vagina doesn’t always “woman.”
The Chat Concierge
Our personalized gynecological search companion connects vagina-havers to relevant educational content, curated health products, alternative solutions, as well as healthcare professionals or clinics. The concierge allows our users to ask their questions in a safe space, free of judgement. Think of it as a reliable best friend or sister that also happens to be a gynecologist/sex therapist.
While frequently asked questions receive an automated response, any questions the concierge cannot answer are directed to a health expert.
The SHOP + THE BOX BOX
Not only do we provide digital resources, but also physical solutions. Our inclusive marketplace covers products from menstruation to pleasure that are medically vetted and tested by the Ovee team. We take extra care to hand select these products to go in our BOX BOX, aka a box for vaginas, which have curated solutions for specific pelvic healthcare needs. This is perfect for people who don’t know where to start and helps to lower the barrier to trying out new health products.
Ovee on Social Media
At Ovee we love to sprinkle your social media timeline with accessible bites of information daily. Our social media is a hub where other members of our community can interact and learn from one another — and we find we learn from them, too. There, we offer one another support and comfort.
Branding
[COMING SOON]
The Design Process
[COMING SOON]
The Future of Ovee
The goal is to develop a personalized and adaptable health dashboard for vagina-havers. Through the dashboard our users can save content, easily access the search concierge, store their reproductive health records, integrate with period tracking apps, and set reminders for their preventative care appointments.
The dashboard keeps track of questions the user has already asked, reproductive health checklists, and allows the user to connect with other vagina-havers experiencing similar issues in mediated chatrooms.
Scenario One - Birth Control
A user has just begun using the birth control pill for the very first time. The dashboard will not only keep track of the current pill they are taking but answer questions about symptoms, remind them to take the pill, and check in on how the user is feeling.
Scenario Two - Fertility
A user is struggling with fertility. In their multiple attempts to conceive they have tried a number of options and methods, spoken to several doctors, and have been feeling lost and alone throughout the process. The Ovee dashboard allows them to easily store their interactions and records from doctors, keep a list of methods they have tried or would like to try, and provides an opportunity to connect with other vagina havers that are going through similar fertility issues.