Birth control delivery startup Nurx introduces STI home-testing kits

Nurx, the “Uber for birth control,” will allow customers to test themselves for many of the most common sexually transmitted infections within the comforts of their own homes with its new STI home-testing kits.

Nurx, a graduate of Y Combinator, has raised about $42 million in venture capital funding from Kleiner Perkins, Union Square Ventures, Lowercase Capital and others to date. It launched in 2015 to facilitate women’s access to birth control across the U.S. with a HIPAA-compliant web platform and mobile application that delivers contraceptives directly to customers’ doorsteps.

Its latest launch is its first since Rao replaced Hans Gangeskar, Nurx’s co-founder and CEO since 2014. Rao told TechCrunch in April that the startup realized they needed talent in the C-suite that had experienced fast growth.

In addition to selling birth control, Nurx provides PrEP, the once-daily pill that reduces the risk of getting HIV, and an HPV testing kit direct to consumer.

Nurx says they will facilitate in-person care for patients who test positive for an STI, if necessary, or will work closely with them to determine next steps including offering oral treatment. Costs for the tests will vary. Each will include a $12 consultation fee, which provides patients with unlimited access to Nurx’s medical team.

• Full Control Kit: Gonorrhea & Chlamydia (Throat, Rectal, Urine), Syphilis, Hepatitis C & HIV will cost $75 with health insurance, $220 without health insurance.

• Healthy Women’s Kit: Gonorrhea & Chlamydia (Throat, Vaginal), Trichomoniasis, Syphilis & HIV will cost $75 with health insurance, $190 without health insurance.

• Covered with the Basics Kit: Gonorrhea & Chlamydia (Urine), Syphilis, HIV will cost $75 with health insurance, $160 without health insurance.

“Nurx is uniquely positioned to address the STI epidemic by breaking down barriers to testing and providing a convenient and affordable ‘all-in-one’ experience for our patients, from testing to guidance to treatment,” Rao said in a statement.

The company’s latest product launch follows a damning report from The New York Times in April that asserted Nurx, which delivers birth control and other medications directly to consumers, employed unorthodox and downright irresponsible business practices, including reshipping returned medications and attempting to revise medical policy.

Rao was announced as Nurx’s new chief executive officer only one week before the NYT report. After being accused of cutting corners, the company said the irresponsible practices highlighted in the story “were in place for a very limited time, impacted a very limited number of patients, and ended nearly a year ago.”

“The story’s depiction of Nurx does not reflect our policies now, but just as importantly, they do not accurately reflect the full picture of how we operated then,” Nurx wrote in a response to the story.