Mel Chacksfield Deputy CEO, Apricity
Previously
VP, GTM Operations, BabylonGlobal Head of GTM Operations, Babylon
Global Commercial Delivery Director, Babylon
Company
Launched in 2018 in the UK, Apricity is taking a fresh approach to reproductive health, blending personal, patient-centric fertility care with cutting-edge tech. In doing so, the startup aims to help people increase their chances of conception without the need to travel to a clinic, all while offering a smoother patient experience.
The virtual clinic assists with every step of the fertility treatment journey and provides continuous, personalized support through its app. Apricity has pioneered new technologies to transform fertility care, developing first-of-its-kind AI algorithms that identify the most suitable fertility treatment for patients and then determine the best embryo for selection through 3D reconstruction.
It has a 46% success rate per cycle, in comparison to the UK average of 31%, and hugely cuts down on the number of trips to clinics that patients must make. With a small team of 55+ people across the UK and Europe, Apricity has raised a €17m Series B, backed by MTIP and Iris Ventures.
Search Background
As Apricity continue to scale across the UK, they required an experienced operational leader to align the company’s operational policies with the company vision and drive efficient collaboration across departments. Reporting to the CEO, this role would lead the operational direction of all elements of the business and continuous business improvement through inputs across the management team.
Requirements
The successful candidate would have to bring a blend of commercial and operational experience and have a strong understanding of the Healthtech industry. They would have demonstrated a high level of leadership experience, leading businesses through fast-paced growth and change, with a strong focus on driving results and inspiring teams. They also needed to demonstrate their ability to be a true business partner and #2 to the Founder and CEO.
Result
Erevena conducted a UK-wide search prioritising established, commercial and operational leaders within the Healthtech space. This led to the introduction and placement of Mel Chacksfield, who brings a wealth of experience within fertility and broader Healthtech experience at Babylon.
Caroline Noublanche
CEO
I was introduced to Erevena by our investor, Iris ventures. Jonnie and Flo have been in touch for a few months before the right opportunity to work together arise. By then, they knew the business and me better. We had had time to establish mutual trust. The role was not an easy role to fill, with a mix of sales and operational care, of understanding both business and healthcare while being attached to scale a business. Erevena was really structured in their approach, they introduced CVs for different types of candidates and identified and refined the type of profile we were after. They kept us informed at every stage and introduced an adequate number of candidates: enough for us to make a benchmark and not too many either. We are really happy with Erevena and the outcome of the search: Mel is an amazing addition to the leadership team of Apricity.
