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Pioneering Pathways to Parenthood

At Ovelle, we are revolutionizing reproductive medicine to help more people experience the profound joys of parenthood.
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About Us

Our Mission and Challenge

Infertility affects about 1 in 7 couples (approximately 15%), with millions of women struggling to conceive. This challenge not only impacts physical health but also takes an emotional toll on individuals and relationships. Current treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) can be costly, invasive, and not always successful. At Ovelle, we’re developing a groundbreaking solution: in vitro gametogenesis (IVG).

Think of IVG as the next generation of IVF. It’s designed to be more effective, less invasive, and potentially more affordable. Our mission is to perfect this technology, making the dream of parenthood a reality for many more families.

While there’s still work to be done, we’re optimistic about the future. Our goal is simple: to bring the joy of parenthood within reach for families who may have lost hope, offering them a new path to realizing their dreams of having a baby.

Our Vision for the Future

At Ovelle, we're working towards a future with:

Revolutionary Treatment

IVG becomes the gold standard in fertility treatment - safe, effective, and widely preferred to IVF

Universal Access

Advanced reproductive technologies are affordable and accessible to all who desire them

Fulfilled Dreams

The joy of parenthood becomes a reality for millions, significantly reducing the heartache of infertility

Meiosis induction from female hiPSCs
Unlocking Nature's Blueprint for Human Eggs

From Body Cells to Eggs: Our Scientific Journey

Our groundbreaking technology starts with ordinary body cells – like skin, muscle, or blood cells. Through a remarkable scientific process, we first turn these cells back into stem cells, which have the amazing ability to become any type of cell in the body.

From these stem cells, we then coax the development of two crucial types of reproductive cells. The first are support cells that normally nurture egg development in the ovaries. The second are early-stage egg cells, which we guide through meiosis, the special type of cell division unique to reproductive cells.

We then bring these two cell types together in the lab. By recreating the nurturing environment typically found in the body, we aim to produce fully functional human egg cells. It’s like assembling a complex puzzle, where each piece must fit perfectly to create the final picture – in this case, a mature human egg.

Our Innovative Approach

At Ovelle, we’re pioneering a revolutionary approach to IVG research that sets us apart in the field. While traditional methods have made incremental advances, our unique methodology allows us to explore possibilities at an unprecedented pace. This novel strategy allows:

Data-Driven Discovery: Accelerate discovery through cutting-edge technology and advanced data analysis

Iterative Refinement: Create a dynamic feedback loop between predictions and lab results, continuously refining our process

Unconventional Insights: Uncover insights and optimize our research efforts in ways that conventional methods might miss

This approach not only accelerates our research but also brings us closer to our goal of making IVG a reality for families struggling with infertility.

Our Team

Bogdan Dobre

Chief Data Scientist

Travis Potter

Incoming CEO

Merrick Pierson Smela

Chief Scientific Officer

Join Us in Revolutionizing Fertility

At Ovelle, you’ll be part of a dynamic, collaborative team dedicated to advancing reproductive science. We foster an environment of thoughtful innovation, mutual support, and continuous learning, where we work together to improve fertility treatments.

If you are a talented scientist, researcher, or developer passionate about making a difference, we want to hear from you. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to expand your expertise while making a meaningful impact on countless lives. Together, we can unlock the future of fertility and bring the joy of parenthood within reach for more families.

Join us at Ovelle and help pioneer groundbreaking solutions in women’s health. Ready to be part of this transformative journey? 

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Bogdan Dobre

Chief Data Scientist

Bogdan leads our data science efforts, working to unlock the potential of IVG. Bogdan brings a wealth of experience in data science and machine learning, developed over a decade at Walleye.

For Bogdan, this isn’t just a scientific endeavor—it’s deeply personal. After his wife lost her ovaries to cancer, Bogdan intimately understood the heartbreak faced by countless families struggling with infertility. This experience ignited his determination to advance IVG, offering hope not only to his own family but to millions worldwide who dream of parenthood.

Bogdan received a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics from École Polytechnique and a master’s from Princeton University.

Travis Potter

Incoming CEO

Travis is on a mission to transform the landscape of reproductive technology. As CEO, he leads the charge in pioneering in vitro gametogenesis (IVG), a groundbreaking advancement poised to surpass traditional IVF methods.

Inspired by the profound joy of fatherhood, Travis’s personal experience with his two young children ignited a passion to help others realize their dreams of parenthood. This deeply personal motivation fuels his unwavering commitment to developing IVG into an accessible technology, offering hope to countless families worldwide.

Previous to Ovelle, Travis ran a group at Balyasny as a Portfolio Manager. Before Balyasny, Travis was a Managing Director in Equity Derivatives at Goldman Sachs. Travis began his career as a quantitative programmer.

Travis graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Physics from Cornell University.

Merrick Pierson Smela

Chief Scientific Officer

Merrick is at the forefront of revolutionizing reproductive medicine through his groundbreaking work in in vitro gametogenesis (IVG). With his work he’s paving the way for a future where infertility could become a challenge of the past.

Merrick’s achievements include pathbreaking research using high-throughput screening of transcription factors to induce meiosis from human pluripotent stem cells. Additionally, he successfully developed methods to derive human germ cells, oocytes, and ovarian supporting cells. As part of this work he is named as the inventor on numerous patents related to IVG.

Merrick received his PhD from the George Church Lab at Harvard Medical School. Prior to Harvard Merrick received his masters in stem cell biology from Gurdon Institute in Cambridge through a Churchill Scholarship.