When Laura Chambers was breastfeeding her kids years ago, she felt frustrated.
The CEO of Mountain View-based Willow Innovations Inc., which makes wearable breast pumps, didn't have any convenient options for pumping breast milk while at work or while completing other tasks.
"It was so hard, it was so time-consuming, there was so little dignity to it," Chambers said. "It was the worst part of motherhood for me."
And Chambers was one of those who have access to lactation rooms at work. According to a survey from the health and wellness company Acceleron, 49% of the companies where survey respondents worked said said their employers have a lactation or mother’s room to pump in.
Then, there's the time commitment and the workplace impact. The Acceleron survey found that 63% said they felt less able to complete their work tasks because of their workplace conditions. And just over three-quarters of respondents said the need to pump at work had them reconsidering either their employer or a career change.
Chambers said people who breastfeed often require two to three 30-minute breaks each day just to pump milk. "When you add that up, that's 240 hours of pumping that moms need to do while they're at work," she said. "That's the equivalent of five working weeks."
New pump, new price
Willow's new wearable breast pump, which launched Tuesday, is designed to fix that. The Willow Go allows breast feeders to pump milk hands-free and cordlessly by slipping the pumps inside of their bras.
Willow's first wearable breast pump, the Gen 3, was launched in 2018 and is already well-suited to breast feeding while on the go. But the new Willow Go is more affordable, priced at $329 versus $499 for the Gen 3. And most insurance plans make the out-of-pocket cost of the pump a mere $150, Chambers said.
The tradeoff is that the Gen 3 is suitable for a variety of activities — some users even ran marathons while wearing the device, according to Chambers — while the Willow Go is slightly less versatile. However, the Willow Go is still useful for people who want their hands to remain free so they can write a report or play Elden Ring.
The new pump features hospital-strength suction, which enables breast feeders to produce more milk, and can hold up to 14 ounces.
From incubator to in-store
Willow was born in 2014 from ExploraMed, a Mountain View-based incubator focused on medical devices. Willow was the seventh company to arise from ExploraMed's studies — the eighth, Revelle Aesthetics Inc., also has a product that's primarily marketed toward women.
"For company number seven, they wanted to do something in women's health," Chambers said, referring to Willow founders John Chang and Josh Makower. "They ran a number of focus groups with women, asking what problems do you have that a medical device could solve... All the women wanted to talk about was breast pumps."
The company has gained some traction since then, with its gross revenues enjoying 60% cumulative annual growth since 2018, according to Chambers. Willow is also the fastest-growing breast pump brand on Amazon.com Inc., experiencing 260% year-on-year growth on the website, she said.
To date, the startup with 125 employees has raised more than $190 million in funding from investors like New Enterprise Associates, Pura Vida Investments and Gaingels.
The new pump will be available on Amazon, Buy Buy Baby, on Target.com and in Target Corp. stores across the U.S., Chambers said. The CEO is optimistic that the new product will lead to further growth in the $2 billion breast pump market.
"There's more than 41 million breastfeeding mums globally, many of whom are not buying pumps, because the pumps that are available use archaic technology," she said. "We think we can grow the overall market."
