Lauren Silva Laughlin

Lauren Silva Laughlin is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and New York University, with degrees in Finance, Mathematical Science, and Business Journalism, where she also competed as an NCAA All-American swimmer and Olympic Trial qualifier. After working as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank, Lauren became a founding member of Breakingviews, a start-up commentary website that was sold to Reuters in 2009.

She continued as a journalist for 15 years, writing for Fortune, the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, appearing on networks including CNBC and the BBC, most recently leading the U.S. commentary team of reporters at Reuters through the 2024 election.

But somewhere in there, Lauren found out that she was the product of a sperm donor — a secret her parents kept for nearly 40 years because of the stigma associated with male-factor infertility. She became obsessed with the sperm market: how donors are found, used, and compensated, and how donor conceived children are kept in the dark.

Lauren knew that there was a better way. So she hatched Batch, a sperm company that seeks to reduce stigma around donorship through education and accessibility, with a platform that empowers both donors and donor recipients.

Batch is on its way to becoming the world's first sperm marketplace, where donors can be compensated for helping families, and families can have full autonomy over their choices.