Dixon-based PherDal Fertility Science, Inc. has been named Innovation of the Year at mHUB’s 2026 Fourth Revolution Awards, marking the company’s fifth major national recognition in less than two years.

Founded by Dixon entrepreneur and Ph.D. biologist Dr. Jennifer Hintzsche, PherDal grew out of her own struggle to conceive. Alongside her husband, Ryan Westphal, a mechanical engineer at BorgWarner, she invented the medical device that helped them become parents.

Hintzsche became the first PherDal mom and now raises her children in the Dixon community, where the company was founded and remains headquartered.

What began as a personal solution has grown into a nationally recognized fertility company built around the first and only FDA-cleared, 100% sterile at-home insemination kit. Sold over the counter without a prescription for $199 at PherDal.com, the product is designed as a first-line option for people trying to conceive before moving to more expensive and invasive clinical treatments such as IUI or IVF.

The mHUB award recognizes a groundbreaking technology or process from an established and growing company causing significant disruption within its industry.

The latest honor adds to a growing list of recognition for the Dixon company. In 2024, the PherDal Kit was named one of TIME’s Best Inventions. In 2025, PherDal received the Industry Disrupter award at the 1871 Momentum Awards and was named a finalist for the SXSW Innovation Awards.

Hintzsche was also recognized on Inc.’s 2025 Top 500 Female Founders list.

“Eight years ago, I was crying alone on a bathroom floor after another failed cycle, wondering if I would ever become a mother,” said Hintzsche, founder and CEO of PherDal Fertility Science. “Today, I get to raise the children who made me the first PherDal mom right here in Dixon. Thanks to our 433 crowdfunding investors and the support of this community, more than 500 PherDal lives now exist in the world. This honor belongs to every person who believed in us early and helped turn our personal pain into something that now gives hope to families everywhere.”

PherDal says its mission is to close the gap between what people can try at home and what is typically only offered in a fertility clinic, making fertility science more affordable and accessible for the people who need it most.