On July 23, 2026, Nova Scotia femtech startup Elle, MD Biotechnologies announced it had raised C$1.1 million in pre-seed financing to fund the first human clinical studies of Livv, a non-hormonal vaginal contraceptive ring. The all-equity round brings total funding to C$2.5 million and includes Elizabeth Edwards of H Venture Partners, physician Dr. Robin LeBlanc, Invest Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, the Community Business Development Corporation at Hants-Kings, Queen's University's Tricolour Venture Fund, Spring Invest Together, and Startup TNT.

Why It Matters

Non-hormonal contraception is one of the few genuinely underbuilt spaces left in reproductive health, and demand for it is not speculative — it's visible in the migration toward fertility-awareness apps, the persistent copper IUD user base, and the well-documented discontinuation rates for hormonal methods. What's been missing is a product that is both hormone-free and low-effort. Copper IUDs deliver the first but require a procedure many patients find painful or inaccessible; cycle-tracking apps deliver the second but carry materially higher typical-use failure rates and, post-Dobbs, meaningful data-privacy exposure. A monthly self-inserted copper ring, if it clears trials, would be the first product to offer both — and that's a large addressable market rather than a niche. The caveat is straightforward and should temper enthusiasm: this is a pre-seed company with preclinical data heading into its first human study, and contraceptive efficacy is exactly the kind of claim that only clinical trials can settle. Still, the raise is a useful datapoint on where reproductive-health capital is flowing. Alongside Contraline's male-contraceptive Series B earlier this year, it suggests investors have decided the hormone-free contraception category is finally fundable — a shift worth tracking as femtech's record 2025 equity totals get allocated.

The Livv ring uses copper — the same contraceptive material found in many IUDs — to prevent fertilization without synthetic hormones. It is inserted monthly at home, a design intended to thread the needle between the two dominant options: it avoids the daily adherence burden of oral contraceptives and the in-office insertion procedure (and associated pain) of an IUD, while sidestepping the side effects commonly attributed to hormonal methods, including weight gain, nausea, and mood changes.

Founder and CEO Dr. Jennifer Johnston, a family physician, traced the idea to patients at a university clinic. "Although hormonal contraception works really well and is very commonly prescribed, I did have a lot of patients who either couldn't tolerate it, didn't want to use hormones, or had personal medical issues that prevented them from using it, leaving them with very few options," Johnston told BetaKit. On the raise itself she said: "This financing represents a significant milestone for our company and validates the growing demand for non-hormonal contraceptive innovation. We're excited to advance toward human studies and bring women a highly effective contraception option that doesn't require hormones, procedures, or daily adherence."

Elle MD has completed seven preclinical studies and expects Livv to enter first-in-human trials this year at The Ottawa Hospital.

Sources

Update — 2026-07-28

Initial entry — story first created.