Willow, the startup making the wearable breast pump, raises $55 million

Willow, the startup company making a new, wearable, breast pump for women, is capping off a frenetic 2020 with $55 million in fresh funding as it looks to expand its product line to more offerings for new mothers.

The company is coming off a year which saw sales increase, and Laura Chambers, the former eBay and Airbnb manager, take over as chief executive and now, with the new capital, it expects to be bringing new products to market beyond the breast pump in 2021.

A March 2020 report from Frost & Sullivan put the total size of the femtech market, including technologies for mothers, at just over $1 billion with growth rates of 12.9%. So the category is small, but growing quickly as more tools come in to provide services in what is a woefully underinvested sector. Indeed, the $155 million that Willow has raised to date puts the company among the upper echelon of women's health investments.

Contrast that figure with Ro, the storied health brand that launched its subscription medication service for erectile dysfunction with an $88 million investment round.

For women who breast feed, the problems associated with pumping can be legion.

A lot of women talk about how it's almost like the pump runs their life," Naomi Kelman, the founder and former CEO of Willow, told TechCrunch. Everyone is told, if you don't breastfeed or pump on a regular basis, your [breastmilk] supply goes down and then breastfeeding is finished for you."

That's why startup companies like Willow and Naya Health, as well as established companies like Medela and Lansinoh are developing technologies to not only make pumping breast milk more efficient, but also provide more comfort and dignity to users.

Through our longstanding relationship with Willow, we've been able to see the true impact they have had in helping mom's balance motherhood in a modern world," said Josh Makower, Willow's co-founder and chairman of the company's board, as well as a General Partner at Willow investor, NEA, in a statement. Willow is thriving and growing to meet the needs of all moms during these unique times, and we are proud to be a partner in advancing innovation in the femtech field."

With Chambers at the helm, and the $55 million in new financing in hand from investors led by NEA, Meritech Capital Partners, and including Lightstone Ventures along with new investor Perceptive Advisors, Willow will be doing far more than just making breast pumps and will be looking to expand its footprint to international markets.

The first problem we wanted solve was pumping and the wonderful wearable mobile pump. That was always product number one. There's more innovation we can do around pumping. Moms would love us to support them with more hardware and more software," Chambers said. We're also working with moms to figure out where else they need support. Mothers are remarkably unsupported in their motherhood journey. We are working with moms to figure out what's important for them and we're building that."