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Elvie, one of the UK’s most feted female-led start-ups, has been acquired by the US rival that was pursuing legal action against the “femtech” group before it fell into administration.
The London-based group, backed by investors including British billionaire Michael Spencer, has been bought out of a prepack administration by California-based Willow on Friday. The Elvie brand and products will continue through the US group.
The companies have been locked in litigation launched by Willow in 2023, alleging patent infringement on a number of its designs.
FTI Consulting was appointed to oversee a prepack administration, according to people familiar with the events.
One investor said the company’s fate was a further sign of how difficult it was to scale up promising tech businesses in the UK.
“Without serious and incentivised US backers you cannot win in their market. If Elvie was a USA business it would have had protections [over its intellectual property], growth capital and be a decacorn [valued at more than $10bn].”
Founded by Tania Boler in 2013, Elvie has developed a leading brand for female technology products such as silent, wireless breast pumps. The women’s health start-up has been held up as an example of success for female VC-backed groups in the UK.
Elvie products are available across European countries, and as recently as January was promoting its latest app-controlled “smart” baby bouncer at the CES conference in Las Vegas. Elvie’s first product in 2015 was a pelvic floor trainer.
The start-up had raised $150mn by 2021 from a variety of investors including BlackRock. Spencer, the former ICAP boss and ex-Conservative party treasurer, also invested millions of pounds in the start-up in early funding rounds through private investment vehicle, IPGL.
However, investors told the FT they expected to be wiped out through the prepack administration.
FTI Consulting has overseen the administration of Chiaro Technology Limited, which was trading as Elvie, and completed the sale of its business and assets to Willow.
Sarah O’Leary will continue to serve as Willow’s chief executive, and Elvie’s head office will move to join Willow in California. The company has begun a consultation process into redundancies caused by the combination of the businesses in the UK.
O’Leary told the Financial Times: “This is an exciting opportunity to bring two leaders in the category together to better be able to compete and really realise the promise of what our product platforms have started to build.”
Elvie has often sought to challenge public preconception and destigmatise public breastfeeding, including with a campaign of putting giant breasts on major London buildings, as well as pelvic floor exercising.
O’Leary said the deal would expand global distribution and bring together product portfolios in a “connected, cohesive platform for women’s health”.
Karim Abdel-Ghaffar Plaza, a director of Elvie, said: “While this transition marks a significant change for the company, we are happy that the much-loved Elvie brand — with its iconic products and innovation — will continue its journey under Willow’s guidance.”
