International legal practice Osborne Clarke has advised BGF on its lead investment in a £58M funding round in Elvie, the revolutionary global health and lifestyle brand developing iconic products for women. Further investment came from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock Private Equity Partners and a consortium including Hiro Capital and Westerly Winds, plus existing investors Octopus Ventures and IPGL.
Founded in 2013 by CEO Tania Boler, Elvie brings together a team of world-class engineers, designers and business minds to develop extraordinary products that improve women’s lives – revolutionising categories which had been overlooked for many years, including breast pumps and pelvic floor health.
Elvie’s products include Elvie Trainer, an award-winning app-connected Kegel trainer that helps women strengthen their pelvic floor and Elvie Pump, the world’s first silent wearable breast pump. In October 2020, the company brought to market two new breastfeeding products, Elvie Catch and Elvie Curve.
Since the launch of Elvie Pump on the catwalk of London Fashion Week in September 2018, Elvie has experienced hyper-growth. The business grew 6x in 2019, almost doubled in 2020 despite widespread Covid disruption – and is on track to double again in 2021. The company launched 10 new markets across EU and Asia in the last 12 months and continues to see rapid sales growth in the US, the world’s biggest breast pump market.
The funds will be used to invest in three key areas: innovation and the development of new best-in-class products and services for women, continued expansion into new and existing markets, and strengthening Elvie’s operations and infrastructure ready for the next phase of high-speed growth.
The femtech industry is expected to become a $50 billion market by 2025 (Frost and Sullivan).
The Osborne Clarke team was led by Associate Director James Taylor with support from Senior Associate Elinor Owen, Associate Hannah Stevens, Trainee Solicitor Liz Foley and BGF Client Relationship Partner Simon Jones.
Osborne Clarke’s international venture capital practice is widely recognized as a leading European law firm for companies operating in tech-enabled industries. The Venture Capital team is ranked tier one by The Legal 500 and has experts across London, the Thames Valley and Bristol. It has an outstanding track record advising start-ups, global market leaders, angel investors and institutional VC/growth capital investors on funding rounds, follow-on rounds, venture debt facilities, IPOs, trade sales and buy & build projects.
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