Prelude Fertility (Prelude) announced today the appointment of seasoned healthcare executive Susan Hertzberg to the role of Chief Executive Officer. Hertzberg joins Prelude from Boston Heart Diagnostics, where she served as President and CEO for six years. Prelude launched in October 2016 as a partnership between Lee Equity Partners, serial entrepreneur Martin Varsavsky, Reproductive Biology Associates (RBA) and My Egg Bank (MEB). It provides proactive fertility care services including egg freezing and storage, genetic testing, donor egg matching, single embryo transfer (SET), as well as traditional in vitro fertilization (IVF).

In her new role, Hertzberg will manage the network expansion of fertility clinics and advance the company’s goal of radically improving fertility choices, care, and outcomes.

“Prelude is growing rapidly and set to innovate how people view and take advantage of advancements in fertility science. Our staff is critical to that growth, and we’re focused on hiring team members with a proven track record of success,” said founder Martin Varsavsky. “Susan is an incredible and dynamic leader with that exact quality and much more. Her strategic vision and wide-ranging talents will help our company achieve tremendous success.”

Hertzberg has more than 25 years of diversified strategic and results-oriented experience in healthcare. At Boston Heart Diagnostics, Hertzberg led a team that organically increased the company’s annual revenue from $2 million to $95 million. Throughout that growth, she also helped oversee staff expansion from 38 to over 400 employees.

“It’s an honor to join Prelude and its mission of transforming how women manage their fertility to have healthy babies when they are ready. With one third of women in the US having their first child after the age of 30, we are on a mission to provide fact-based information and offer new solutions to those who want to put pregnancy on hold,” said Hertzberg. “Working with Martin, Lee Equity Partners, and the team, Prelude will help people fulfill their parenthood dreams and provide new options for preserving fertility choices well into the future.”

Hertzberg is the latest hire by Varsavsky and Lee Equity Partners. The company also hired Kim Bracuti as Chief Financial Officer, having previously served in this role at Boston Heart Diagnostics, and Carly Stockdale as VP of Commercial Operations.

With the expansion of the team, Varsavsky, in his role as Executive Chairman, will work closely with Hertzberg and focus on three key pillars of the company’s strategy: network expansion, strategic partnerships and fertility benefits reform.

Added Barry Baker, Lee Equity Partners Senior Advisor, “The Lee Equity Partners team is delighted to welcome Susan Hertzberg to Prelude. We are confident that with Susan’s leadership and Martin’s vision, we have the right team to execute our plan and transform the infertility market. That transformation will provide people with the services and options they need to realize their dreams of becoming parents when they choose.”

Hertzberg received the Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year™ award in 2014 as the New England winner and a national finalist. She has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, The Boston Business Journal, and the nationally syndicated radio show, “The CEO Show with Robert Reiss”. She sits on the Affiliate Board of the American Heart Association and the Board of Directors for BreastCancer.org.

Hertzberg received her MBA from Columbia University. She currently resides in New York City.

For more information about Prelude, visit http://www.preludefertility.com.

About Prelude

Prelude is a comprehensive fertility company focused on providing proactive fertility care to improve people’s chances of having healthy babies when they are ready. Founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneur Martín Varsavsky, Lee Equity Partners, Reproductive Biology Associates and My Egg Bank North America, the company was established to give men and women more reproductive choices and control over their biological clocks. By coupling earlier decision making with the latest reproductive science and technology, Prelude can dramatically increase the probability of having a healthy baby and decrease the chances of requiring infertility therapy later in life.

About Lee Equity Partners, LLC

Lee Equity Partners is a New York–based private equity firm that partners with successful management teams to build companies with strong growth potential. Lee Equity targets equity investments of $50 to $100 million in middle market control buyouts and growth capital financings in companies with enterprise values of $100 million to $500 million that are located primarily in the United States. The firm invests in a range of industries where the team has deep relationships developed over decades, including financial, healthcare and business services, consumer, media, and specialty industrial/specialty distribution. http://www.LeeEquity.com