How IVF in India is being redesigned for the next decade

In the past decade, In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) in India has moved from a niche medical intervention to a mainstream healthcare conversation. Rising infertility rates, increasing awareness, delayed parenthood, and greater financial access have reshaped the fertility market. India’s fertility sector, valued at $1 to 2.35 billion, is projected to touch $5 billion by 2034. Yet the experience of seeking care remains uneven. Patients still navigate unclear protocols, inconsistent communication, fragmented diagnostics, and limited emotional support.

Established in 2024 by second-time founder Neha Motwani, Luma Fertility is built on patient-led thinking, transparent processes, and technology designed to simplify a traditionally complex pathway in IVF in India. Motwani previously launched  the health discovery platform Fitterity, now acquired by Curefit. 

Within just a year In a space where quality and transparency fluctuate wildly, Luma has quickly earned the trust of women seeking clarity and control over their fertility options. 

Luma’s model integrates structured treatment plans with a clinical ecosystem that blends medical expertise and technology. Features such as see-through laboratories, flexible scheduling for scans and blood work, and staff trained to prioritise clarity over jargon reset expectations around IVF in India. “We don’t want any woman to think that they are just another file,” says Motwani. 

In Q3 of 2025, Luma raised $4 million from Peak XV’s Surge platform, with participation from seasoned investors such as Ameera Shah from Metropolis Healthcare and Vijay Taparia.

Motwani speaks about the structural gaps in IVF in India, what Luma intends to rebuild, and why technology will shape the next wave of women’s healthcare in the country.

Where does the current fertility ecosystem in India leak value—financially, emotionally, or operationally? Which of these leakages does Luma intend to close first?

The fertility journey is a combination of all three: financial, emotional, and operational. And, there are leakages across. Financial leakages in terms of committing a certain amount against the treatment package and often exceeding that amount; emotional in the form of not really tending for the person as a human being but just another file; and operational leakages are the most frequent, owing to the logistics-heavy nature of fertility treatments. Any treatment cycle spans months, involving injections, scans, and blood work. The operational load alone can overwhelm patients.

At Luma, we aim to focus on all three. We have the ‘Care Navigator’ tackling the operational aspect by posing as a one-point contact for patients. We want to anchor the entire logistical journey for our patients, allowing them to simply show up and leave the rest to us.
 We’re plugging in emotional care by offering psychological counselling; every woman coming into the clinic fills up an ‘emotional value form’, and is recommended a therapist based on their needs—not to manage any concern, but to be able to navigate the experience better. 

Financially, we’re championing transparency. We share the cost upfront and inform what exactly one is being charged for—no hidden surprises. This doesn’t typically happen at clinics; a host of add-ons 
often end up creating a significant gap between the sticker price and what you eventually pay.  

If IVF protocols are broadly standardised, what does differentiation realistically look like? What levers—cost, transparency, tech, patient experience—can actually shift the unit economics of fertility care?

While re-architecturing a healthcare journey with a patient at the centre, it’s not simply making an existing process patient-centric. For example, women regularly need injections during their IVF journey; at Luma, we cut down on the number of visits a patient makes to the clinic by sending nurses to their homes. By integrating an application, technology, Artificial Intelligence and, most importantly, empathy, we want to establish differentiation touchpoints. In our research, we have identified 55 friction points that impact the fertility journey—at Luma, there’s a solution for each. 

“WE DON’T WANT ANY WOMAN TO THINK THAT THEY ARE JUST ANOTHER FILE” –– Neha Motwani

Speaking of unit economics, there are broadly two patient groups: TTC (trying to conceive) and egg freezing for preservation. Both groups behave differently. Somebody trying to conceive will look at the treatment as a means to an end, and will, firstly, want to select the best clinic and doctor. We’re also increasingly seeing people prioritise convenience and, therefore, a willingness to pay a premium for that kind of service. Luma is operating at a sweet spot—we’re not premium but not very affordable either. While the price will differ from city to city, from location to location, there is value that we are delivering, which patients are recognising. 

For the second group, women are just becoming more forthcoming and preventative in terms of getting their AMH (Anti-Müllerian Hormone) levels (an indicator of a woman’s ovarian reserve that determines how fertile she is) checked in their late 20s and taking necessary steps based on their plans for the future. With the availability of EMI (Equated Monthly Instalments) and companies providing reimbursements for egg freezing, the narrative of preventive fertility is also changing.

Your career arc moved from building a scale-first fitness platform to entering a deeply specialised healthcare category. What did you learn from the Fitternity playbook that becomes an advantage here?

The two ventures differ considerably. Fitternity was about aggregating gyms; an application that is very product-focused and technology-led. Luma’s premise, on the other hand, is grounded in the clinic—physically and operationally.

As a second-time founder, the constant learning is to build with a consumer-led mindset. It involves a deep understanding of their needs, the triggers behind the ever-changing consumer behaviour, and being analytical of them—helping me at Luma. Since I come as a patient myself, my personal expectations create a secure benchmark.I have also become more resilient. 
I learnt to not get excited with the highs and not get impacted by the lows.

You prioritised AI-driven transparency and structured counselling. From a business standpoint, why were these the first bets rather than infrastructure, pricing, or clinician-led scale?

It is tough to channelise transparency or the use of AI efficiently if the clinical infrastructure and protocols are not robust. 


When we acquired this clinic, it was a bare shed; figuring out the medical director, chief embryologist, their years of experience, and success rates [was critical]. About the infrastructure—the idea was to create a space that blends clinical expertise and patient centricity at once. Once these two pillars were established, transparency and AI simply became value-adds—both for our patients and us. 

Femtech is entering its high-growth phase. Which forces—rising delayed parenthood, employer-led fertility benefits, digital diagnostics, insurance innovation—are actually shaping demand in India right now?

Many women are delaying marriage and parenthood these days. As a result, they’re consciously learning the options at their disposal.

My prediction is that 70 per cent of the top corporations in the US give women benefits for fertility treatments. The shift will gradually take place in India as well; of course, we are at least 5-7 years away. 

At the same time, we’re witnessing a growing number of women experiencing depleting AMH levels. An Indian woman hits her peak at 27 years, as compared to a Caucasian woman at 33. 

So, the organisational and biological factors, combined with a significantly higher awareness, I think, are shaping the rising demand for femtech in India.  

In an AI-led decade, where does clinical expertise create irreplaceable value? And where does technology meaningfully compress time, cost, or error rates in fertility care?

I think clinical expertise can be aided, but the expertise of doctors and embryologists will remain irreplaceable. For instance, we use AI tools in our embryology lab which guide the team on the best eggs to pick with the highest chances of implantation. But we’re not close to a juncture where AI could replace the job of a doctor. 

Human intervention, especially in fertility treatments, will always be essential, not just for physical reasons, but also for emotional and mental reasons. Understanding history, nuances, and symptoms, the human touch is very critical.

What pricing architecture makes sense for a category where the consumer is cost-sensitive but also emotionally-led? Are you designing EMI models, bundled cycles, or employer-backed options?

At the core, we have designed our pricing models with transparency at the front, and being upfront about all the possible expenses that could arise (as ad-hocs) during the journey. 

Our models account for flexible EMI options and employer-backed insurances (general insurance policies don’t cover fertility treatments).We don’t offer bundled cycle models since the goal is to attempt successful execution in the first cycle itself. 

Fertility sits at the intersection of stigma, medical complexity, and emotional volatility. How does Luma build patient trust without relying on soft language—through data legibility or through a care-first model?

The team leads with a care-first model. Whether it is talking about an unsuccessful outcome or the fact that the options are limited, the approach remains personalised. The stigma is shifting; we’re seeing women openly talk about their struggles. That inspired the concept of the 40-30 circle, where Luma invites women in their fertility journey to, candidly chat about it. 

It’s less about correcting and more about empowering women—and that starts with educating them about their options. Nobody pushes women into the corner; instead, women decide what they think is right for themselves. I think that’s what people want, and what we hope to achieve through Luma. 

I anchor it, share my own experience, and encourage others to do so as well. Building a community has great power, and that’s what we’re exploring. 

What does a five-year scaling strategy look like in a sector where quality control, regulatory compliance, and clinician bandwidth can limit growth?

It’s only been six months since Luma started operationally. By the end of the next five years, we want that number to expand to 27.  

We want to be outcome-first, followed by being the most trusted IVF clinic in pan-India. 

Currently, the plan is to build presence in the top metro cities. 
A technology-driven version of the existing model could exist across other Tier-2 and -3 cities since there is a large digital adoption beyond the metros.