A startup aims to help the 18 million US men diagnosed with erectile dysfunction pay attention to their 'check-engine light'

• Roman, a men’s-health startup, connects men with doctors who can prescribe erectile-dysfunction medication.
• The hope is that by making the medication more easily accessible, men will start interacting with doctors more frequently than they already do.
• Erectile dysfunction, Roman CEO Zachariah Reitano said, is a good “check-engine light” for other health conditions a man might be facing.

Roman’s office looks just like any other startup’s setup. There are a few rows of desks, an office dog (Thor), and a little pharmacy stocked with the branding you’ve come to know from startups: clean, simple colour schemes packed up in personalised boxes.

But the first sign this isn’t just another startup is what’s inside the boxes: erectile-dysfunction medications.

Roman is a men’s-health company that launched in November with $US3 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst. It has both a telemedicine practice and a pharmacy that’s able to distribute medications specifically for erectile dysfunction, such as Viagra and Cialis.

It’s uncommon to encounter a pharmacy that just distributes one particular kind of medication. Why this medication? It’s a way to get more men to see the doctor. Men are half as likely to go see a doctor regularly as women are, so preventing certain diseases might be a bit more challenging. Read more

Lydia Ramsey - Business Insider Australia - 27 Dec 2017