Market Need: Male infertility factors contribute to half of all infertility cases, with sperm counts having declined by 50% over the past 40 years and testosterone levels by 25% in the last 20 years in the U.S. Yet, we lack accessible, affordable solutions. Lifespark fills this critical gap, recognizing that traditional clinic-based fertility testing is both costly and uncomfortable. By offering convenient, at-home testing and targeted fertility support, Lifespark is positioned to meet the growing demand for solutions in male reproductive health

Competitor Landscape: Current competitors in the fertility space primarily cater to female prenatal care and only offer male-focused products as supplementary SKUs. This leaves a significant gap in tailored solutions addressing men's reproductive health directly

Lead investor / angel secured: Not yet, interested in raising with strategic investors

Customer traction & growth metrics: Previously scaled in under 60 days to over $15k in revenue, solely through Meta

Min and max check size: Min $100K, Max $1M

Founder Background: Sam Tichnor has over 10 years of CPG experience including CEO & Founder of FFUPs and Senior Manager at Harry’s, Inc.

How has your experience building FFUPs led you to build this new venture? Building and learning from the ups and downs of FFUPs has given me a really firm perspective in what actually matters in bringing new products to market in ways that deliver on consumer expectations while making sure the product is effectively communicating the unmet need it is solving for. For many first time founders, myself included, there are things you think matter that don't and there are things you don't think matter that do. I don't necessarily have all of the answers now, but I certainly have learned so many lessons that make me a better operator today than I was three years ago. More tactically, building FFUPs led me to meeting the folks at Your Snack Foods who are my partners on this venture. We shared a collective vision that protein snacking will be an enduring trend and given the capabilities at the factory and my experience building FFUPs and incubating brands at Harry's Labs, we had a founding team with a perfect match of skill sets. 

Why is there still a gap in the market for accessible, everyday protein snacks? The need for protein is universal - no matter who you are or what you do, having protein is non-negotiable to support muscle maintenance and energy. Yet at the same time, many consumers associate protein and protein snacks with athletes, body-builders and exercise enthusiasts. While there are plenty of protein snacks on the market, we believe that there isn't a brand speaking to the common consumer - someone who just wants a snack that looks like anything else on shelf, but with the benefit of added protein. For us, approachability is key to how we view branding.

Tell us more about the Snack Tank model and why it works: Our goal is to test out brand concepts in the real world and get early feedback from retailers and consumers before investing significantly in launches. Because we own our facility, we can produce to order and because of our distributor relationships, we can test unaided brand launches to know if something will fly off the shelves. We are able to launch concepts cheaper, faster and with better data in a way that others simply can't. Let's face it - launching a brand can be time-consuming and expensive, and when you are working with a co-packer, the margins are usually pretty rough at first. But by eliminating those startup pain points, we can test high-margin, fairly priced products in the market to hone in on exactly what consumers are willing to pay for. 

Raise: Raising up to $1.5M, with initial close of the first $300k at friendlier terms for investors

Lead investor / angel secured: Not yet

Traction / growth: Have locked in distributor agreements for brand tests, are currently interviewing candidates for a Private Label Sales lead, and have secured a pipeline of partner brands for value-add services

Min and max check size: Min $25K