Women’s Health and its startups have raised over $5 billion in funding over the past five years for breast pumps, period trackers and connected breast pumps designed for women, period trackers and other apps and hardware, but the market has been tough and now, consolidation has been inviting, bringing together two pioneers in the space.
Willow, a San Francisco startup named for its wearable breast milk pump, has acquired Elby. Elbbe started with a smart kegel trainer before expanding to other products for new mothers, including its own breast milk pump and, more recently, bassinet.
The terms of the deal have not been made clear, but we understand that it will come as Elby enters power. The London startup has raised more than $186 million over the past 12 years, including investors such as Taco Venture, BlackRock and Bloom Equity. The final rating was $241 million per Pitchbook data.
The companies have been having a conversation for a while after Willow approached Elby to buy it. However, as the lecture progressed, Elby also approached the end of the runway.
“This deal comes into play after months of replacement expectations,” Willow CEO Sarah O’Leary said in an interview.
Willow understands that he is taking on existing businesses, including its products and teams. Currently, 170 people work across London and Bristol, some of them are already in the notification period and will not come to Willow.
Willow raised approximately $254 million in stock and debt combinations with investors including NEA and Meritech. The per pitchbook valuation rose to up to $256 million in 2021 (generally a high watermark for venture funding), but fell in 2024 when the company raised a combination of stock and debt.
O’Leary, who took the CEO role at the end of 2023, declined to comment on the current rating, but said the company may be considering growing more later this year.
Elby’s tips for bankruptcy speak to some of the broader challenges in the world of women’s health. The market from 2021 onwards remains challenging, especially for late startups that don’t focus solely on AI. At this time, there are not many exit opportunities for women’s health businesses. Plus, as O’Leary points out, the market (which undoubtedly focuses on the $60 billion figure) is flooded with a ton of inexpensive products.
23AndMe’s recent drama highlights some of the major issues regarding the management of user data, particularly health data, when business is unhappy. And that is probably even more true in the case of women’s health and reproductive business in the current political climate.
And as ever, the ability to turn hardware, or at least hardware startups, into profitable businesses, remains challenging.
Willow’s hope is that Elby’s acquisition marks the beginning of Willow’s own efforts to build a wider integration and a wider platform. If you have fewer opportunities to exit, you will create your own platform and become a comforter.
Women’s health as a category has actually happened over the years thanks to innovations in cloud, smartphones, big data analytics, easier-to-built apps to tackle the market, and hardware prototypes launched via crowdfunding platforms to measure consumer interest. These products came from technology with more powerful demographic requirements to meet their needs. Willow’s challenge, and opportunity, is to see if it can convert it into profit over time.
“We want to show that Femtech products are not only a great story, but a great business,” she said.
Source link
