Starting the Breast Pump Willow acquires Elvi assets as a UK’s female health pioneer moves in administration

The health of women and its startup companies, built connected breast pumps, tracking periods and other applications and hardware, intended for women’s health, have withdrawn more than $ 5 billion in funding over the last five years, but the market has been tight, and now two of the paths in space are collected as an attachment.

WillowLaunch of San Francisco, which made its name with wearable breast pumps, acquires ElviWho started with Kegel’s intelligent coach before expanding to other products for new mothers, including his own breast pumps and most recently, Bassineine.

The terms of the deal are not disclosed, but we understand that it comes when Elvi enters the administration. London Startup has raised over $ 186 million over the past 12 years with investors who included Octopus Ventures, Blackrock and Blume Equity, among others. His last estimate was $ 241 million for data from PitchbookS

The companies have been in conversation for a while after Willow approached Elvi to buy it. But as the conversations progressed, Elvi also approached the end of her track.

“The deal has been formed after many months of alternative expectations,” Willow Executive Director Sarah O’Liri said in an interview.

We understand that Willow takes over the existing business, including its products and team. Currently, 170 people work in London and Bristol, although some of them are already developing their periods of notice and will not come to Willow.

Willow, in turn Nea and MeritechS His estimate, for Pitchbook, increased to $ 256 million in 2021 (a high watermark of risk financing in general), but dropped in 2024 when the company raised a combination of its own capital and debt.

O’Liri, who took on the role of the CEO at the end of 2023, declined to comment on his current assessment, but said the company could seek to gather more this year.

The Elvi Council in bankruptcy speaks of some of the wider challenges in the world of Femtech, which is estimated at a market worth $ 60 billion this year, but is confronted with a number of winds. The 2021 market continues to be a launch challenge at a later stage, especially those that are not almost focused on AI. There are not many opportunities for Femtech Business at the moment. Plus, as O’Leary points out, the market (looking at the number of $ 60 billion, no doubt) is flooded with many more expensive products.

And, as always, hardware – or at least the opportunity to turn hardware startup companies into a winning business – remains difficult.

Willow’s hope is that Elvi’s acquisition marks the beginning of a broader consolidation and Willow’s own efforts to build a wider platform: if the opportunities to exit are small and far between them, then make your own platform and become a consolidator.

FemTech as a category has indeed emerged over the years, as it did, thanks to the cloud, smartphones and innovation in the analysis of large data, it is easier to build market engagement and hardware prototypes started through crowdfanding platforms to evaluate the interest of users. These products also emerged from a more authorized demographic technique in which they meet their own needs. Now Willow’s challenge – and the opportunity – it will be to see if it can make it a profit in time.

“We want to show that Femtech products are not only great stories but also great businesses,” she said.