With An $80 Million Series C, Elvie Founder Tania Boler Looks To Take Her Breast Pump Company From Cult Favorite To Mass Market

  • 📰 ForbesWomen
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 62 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 28%
  • Publisher: 51%

South Africa News News

South Africa South Africa Latest News,South Africa South Africa Headlines

This week, wearable breast pump maker Elvie secured $80 million in Series C funding, the biggest raise in an initial fundraise round for a female-founded femtech company. Founder Tania Boler spoke to Forbes about what the raise means for the future of her company.

"We really break taboos," says Elvie founder and CEO Tania Boler, pictured here holding the Elvie pelvic floor trainer and surrounded by Elvie's breast pumps."It's ultimately all about saying we need—as women—to have smart bodies, to accept our bodies, to enjoy them. And we should have technologies help us on that journey.

It’s an ambitious goal, but Elvie’s products, the discreet breast pump and a pelvic floor trainer, have become cult favorites in the U.K. and the U.S., and Boler says her company is on track to hit $100 million in revenue this year. She’ll use the fresh capital from the Series C to expand Elvie into 10 new markets, including Germany, Spain and China.

“I think if you'd asked me when I was 18, I would have said my dream job would have been working in the United Nations or CEO of Oxfam. And then I got the dream job in the United Nations,” she says. “But, to be honest, I was just so unbelievably frustrated by how slow everything is working in government, working in the public sector, working in research. And I suppose at heart, I am just very entrepreneurial, and impatient.

Elvie’s name was even inspired by the pelvic floor—specifically, the levator ani muscle, which both supports and raises the pelvis—and its first product was a compact trainer that can help strengthen pelvic muscles. Boler launched the trainer in a Pilates studio, correctly deducing that it would receive better reception from women who were already accustomed to thinking about and exercising their pelvic floor muscles.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.

Years ago I spoke with a woman at a conference who'd been pitching a better breast pump, but every investor turned her down bc they - all men - just didn't get it.

We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 477. in ZA

South Africa South Africa Latest News, South Africa South Africa Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Swvl, a green-focused mass transit company, is going public via an all-female SPACDubai-based Swvl, which is focused on efficient ridesharing in markets that don't always have reliable public transportation, is the latest start-up to tap the public market through a SPAC.
Source: CNBC - 🏆 12. / 72 Read more »