Hormones are the body’s biochemical messengers, influencing everything from stress and metabolism to reproductive health. Yet, for decades, monitoring these vital signals has remained largely outdated, relying on infrequent, invasive blood tests that fail to capture real-time fluctuations. For millions navigating IVF treatments, hormonal imbalances, or testosterone deficiency, the lack of accessible and continuous monitoring solutions represents a critical gap in healthcare.
Level Zero Health (LZH) is on a mission to change this by redefining hormone tracking. Co-founded by Ula Rustamova (CEO) and Irene Jia (CTO), the company has developed a groundbreaking biosensor platform that will enable remote and continuous hormone monitoring. With such a stellar founding team and impressive tech hedge, we were delighted to lead their recent £5.5M ($6.9M) pre-seed funding round.
bridging the hormone monitoring gap
Traditional hormone monitoring methods, such as blood tests or at-home urine kits, provide only fragmented snapshots of a constantly shifting biochemical landscape. Urine-based tests capture hormone metabolites with a 12-hour delay, while blood draws are both invasive and impractical for frequent testing. No solution has existed for real-time, non-invasive hormone monitoring—until now. LZH’s proprietary DNA-based biosensors mark a major scientific breakthrough, enabling both intermittent and continuous hormone tracking through interstitial fluid—the fluid surrounding cells and tissues. In under a year, LZH has demonstrated impressive technical progress, validating its biosensors with 98% accuracy across the human clinical range—far surpassing industry standards.
an all-star team leading the charge
At the helm of Level Zero Health are its visionary co-founders, Ula Rustamova and Irene Jia, whose deep expertise in biosensing and medical devices positions them to drive this innovation forward. Ula, an ex-Palantir software engineering lead and serial entrepreneur, has a background in applied mathematics and wearable technology development. Irene brings years of experience in medical device engineering, having developed advanced electrochemical sensors at Philips. Supported by a world-class clinical advisory board, including fertility expert Aaron Styer MD (CCRM Fertility, Harvard Medical School) and Joshua Klein (Extend Fertility, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), LZH is setting the foundation for groundbreaking advancements in personalized health diagnostics.
“Hormones are fundamental to how we live, yet the tools to understand them are decades behind,” said Ula. “Our mission is to bridge this gap, empowering individuals and clinicians with real-time insights that have never before been possible.” As LZH continues to push the frontiers of biosensing, it is poised to become a leader in the trillion-dollar personalized health diagnostics industry—transforming how we track, understand, and optimize our hormonal health.
market potential and early validation
The need for real-time hormone monitoring spans multiple industries: The global IVF market, valued at $25.3B in 2023, relies heavily on blood tests every 2-3 days per cycle. LZH’s solution could drastically reduce this burden. Testosterone deficiency, affecting 10-40% of men worldwide, necessitates frequent in-clinic blood testing. Continuous monitoring could revolutionize patient management. The broader continuous biosensing market, including glucose monitoring, is projected to exceed $20.2B by 2032.
redalpine’s Philip Kneis, board member of Level Zero Health, said: "We did it for blood pressure and will do it again for hormones. Continuous hormone measurement is one of the holy grails of diagnostics, and as fundamental science transitions to engineering, we couldn’t be more excited to back Level Zero Health in their mission to transform hormone tracking with their novel biosensor - paving the way for a new era of personalized health management."
LZH has already secured $3M in LOIs from major IVF clinics, achieved a clinical R&D milestone in hormone detection, developed a working prototype, and filed a broad patent in 2024. In under a year, LZH has demonstrated impressive technical progress, validating its biosensors with 98% accuracy across the human clinical range—far surpassing industry standards.
what’s next for Level Zero Health?
LZH will use the funding to secure FDA & CE-mark approvals for its intermittent monitoring device—an essential step toward commercialization. The company is also expanding its R&D efforts and hiring top talent across the UK and US to accelerate product development.
We’re proud to support Ula, Irene, and the entire Level Zero Health team on their journey to revolutionize hormone monitoring!