Nurx's New App.

Nurx wants you to be able to get birth control through an app

Many doctors believe birth control should be sold over the counter. One company believes it should be sold over an app. 

Currently, birth control can be a hassle. Women in need of oral contraception have to get a prescription and keep up with doctors' visits to maintain it.

One startup is trying to solve that inconvenience, while staying within the rules of prescription medicine. The telehealth startup Nurx will prescribe birth control through an app and deliver it on demand. 

The startup — an alum of the accelerator Y Combinator — just raised $5.3 million for this plan in a Series A round. The round was led by Union Square Ventures with participation from six Y Combinator partners and other investors. 

"We figured this was a low-hanging fruit we could do something about," Nurx CEO Hans Gangeskar told Mashable. "Doctors are prescribing birth control to friends of friends, but that's something only privileged women have access to. We saw that as a real opportunity for telemedicine since birth control is so safe." 

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists supports over-the-counter access to oral contraceptives. In other countries, oral contraception is available without a prescription.