Mr. Yusuke Ishikawa, Representative Director of FamiOne, Inc.
Note: This article was originally published on the website of the INCF (the predecessor of ICF) in June 2020.
We interviewed Mr. Yusuke Ishikawa, the Representative Director of FamiOne, Inc., a company that provides accurate information on fertility activities with appropriate advice based on his own experience in the fields of pregnancy and childbirth.
―Could you tell us what motivated you to start the business?
Ishikawa: It is my own experience in the different fields involving fertility. When I first started in this area, I did not know very much about pregnancy care, but since I was working for a medical IT company at the time, I was able to research and consider the evidence available. On the other hand, my wife and many of the people who would experience fertility activities in the future noticed that there were issues such as “There’s a lot of information out there, but I can’t tell which information is correct” and “I don’t know where to turn for the right advice for me.” So, I decided to start a business in order to build a system that would support everyone who would be involved in reproductive care in the future so that they would not have to face the same issues as my wife and I did even if we ultimately succeeded in having a baby.
―What kind of services do you specifically offer to support reproductive care?
Ishikawa: We offer famione, a fertility concierge service using LINE. A team of experts consisting of certified nurses for infertility nursing, clinical psychologists, and others will provide information and advice tailored to individual concerns on LINE. We use the easily accessible LINE to lower the hurdle for users. Our goal is to create a situation where users can easily register as soon as they are interested in having children even a little bit, rather than registering after suffering from infertility, and can receive correct information even if they are passive.
famione currently has nearly 20,000 registered users. However, it is estimated that 6 million to 10 million couples are suffering from infertility, so we have reached only a small portion of them. We will continue to work hard to have more registered users. We are also focusing on educational activities to help make fertility activities a normal part of life for the average person. We supervised a TV drama as part of that. In addition, we are making a strong effort to improve the literacy of those who support and attentively involve themselves in reproductive care by providing seminars for managers through our services for corporate welfare.
| Company name：FamiOne, Inc. |
| Founded：June 1, 2015 |
| Number of employees：30 (including subcontractors) |
| Main businesses：Operating the fertility concierge service famione and providing various consulting services |
―What goals do you have and how successful have you been so far?
We would like everyone to know the basics of pregnancy and child birthing. These activities and infertility are by no means special or rare. Our ideal society is one where people can easily consult with each other about them. On the other hand, I think that there is no single successful fertility model that works for everyone. As awareness of reproductive processes varies from person to person, we have no choice but to face users sincerely by emphasizing the viewpoint of what kind of support and services are appropriate for each user. Feedback on the results of the expert team’s advice has been accumulated through what we have provided so far. It has enabled us to develop optimal advice, improving our efficiency and effectiveness. We also conduct clinical research at the University of Tokyo to improve the accuracy of our services.
―During the COVID-19 pandemic, has your situation changed or have you taken any new measures?
Ishikawa: The pandemic caused major changes in the environment, such as a statement by the Japanese Society of Reproductive Medicine on the postponement of fertility treatment because the impact on pregnant women and fetuses was unknown, and debates over whether fertility treatment would be deemed non-essential. So that couples attempting to start a family do not believe that their worries will isolate them, FamiOne is trying to eliminate users’ anxiety by providing emotional support through a team of experts and sharing the experiences of those who experienced fertility treatments after the Great East Japan. In late March 2020, as a countermeasure against COVID-19, we began offering free specialist consultation services, which are normally charged, and the number of registered users per week increased eight to nine times. Since there were many new registered users who were already attending a clinic, I believe that our expert team provided some relief during that period of the pandemic by providing free consultations.
―Do you have any difficulties such as conflict with conventional values?
Ishikawa: In order to help people understand reproductive care themselves and recognize issues as they come up, it is essential to conduct educational activities and to provide concrete services that change the behavior of users. Using the PDCA cycle, we are trying to steadily spread our services to various targets, including medical institutions, local governments, and companies. For example, we started providing services on a fertility activity support project with Yokosuka City in Kanagawa Prefecture. We would like to take this opportunity to expand our services nationwide.
The ultimate need for people undergoing fertility treatments is to become pregnant. However, it is difficult to provide services that 100% guarantee pregnancy. So, we strive to improve customer value and satisfaction by empathetically responding to individual needs and providing appropriate advice.
―What are your expectations and aspirations for the future?
In the area of reproductive care, we have already achieved some positive results, such as service design and a behavioral change hypothesis. In the future, we would like to expand our support to the areas of early awareness building, pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. We are also considering overseas expansion. Especially in Europe and the United States, as in Japan, there is still old and erroneous fertility information permeating the countries, so they have ample potential as markets. We hope to steadily develop our business while increasing the number of supporters by visualizing the scale-up of our business.
| MRI’s EYE |
| The risks of the COVID-19 pandemic are affecting even new lives that are yet to be born. In this context, the company’s provision of value through thorough engagement with users has generated a great response. We look forward to the company’s continuous acceleration of the business for people with new lifestyles. |
This article is part of a series of articles introducing venture companies working together as INCF members to resolve societal issues.