“When I called PayPal co-founder Max Levchin last week, we talked about ovulation cycles, not payment cycles.” says Lauren Goode from AllThingsDigital. That’s because Levchin’s newest start-up involves an iPhone app aimed toward helping women get pregnant: called Glow, the company has built a fertility tracker that uses cutting-edge data analytics and published information on ovulation cycle forecasts to help advise a woman – and her partner – on the best times for her to conceive.

After entering in personal details about their menstrual cycles, their body temperatures and other habits, the app gives its user insight into her fertility window. “Glow also offers clever prompts and notifications. For example, Levchin said, the app might remind a woman on an especially fertile day that it’s a good time to wear nice underwear. Her partner might receive a notification on the same day to bring flowers home.”

Levchin is underscoring his commitment to Glow, and to the new age of digital health, by contributing a million dollars of his own money to a mutual insurance fund that goes to pay for fertility treatments for those who fail to get pregnant after 10 months of using the app. But his goal, ultimately, isn’t just to help women get pregnant. He believes arming the average citizen with data about his or her health will ultimately cut down on health care costs in the long run. He said he plans to eventually apply this financial model to other areas of health.

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