In a sobering twist for the femtech world, Elvie, once hailed as the UK’s brightest women’s health startup has entered administration. The move comes after a decade of groundbreaking innovation,global expansion, and over $180 million in investment. The company’s core assets have now been acquired by its U.S. rival, Willow, marking a significant moment of consolidation in the wearable women’s health tech space.

From Trailblazer to Troubled

Founded in 2013 by Dr Tania Boler, Elvie was born from a simple but powerful insight: women’s health had been underserved by innovation for far too long. Its first product, the Elvie Trainer, turned pelvic floor training into a smart, trackable experience. But it was the 2018 launch of the Elvie Pump, a silent, wearable breast pump, that catapulted the company into international recognition.

With sleek branding, real technological innovation, and a focus on taboos often ignored by mainstream health tech, Elvie positioned itself at the forefront of the so-called "femtech" revolution.

Investors were eager. The company raised multiple rounds of funding from major names including Octopus Ventures. At its peak, Elvie was widely seen as a role model for how to build a venture-scale business in women’s health.

Cracks in the Surface

But while Elvie had the spotlight, challenges were mounting behind the scenes. Manufacturing issues, regulatory hurdles, and the inherently tough economics of hardware businesses began to strain resources.

Competition intensified. Willow, a California-based rival founded in 2014, was quick to expand in the U.S. and aggressively protected its intellectual property. A high-profile patent dispute between the two companies cast a long shadow over Elvie’s operations, and likely drained both focus and funds.

Meanwhile, scaling a global hardware business proved harder than expected. While Elvie had managed to enter major markets like the U.S., margins were tight, retail distribution was demanding, and consumer expectations were evolving rapidly.

What This Means for Femtech

In March 2025, Elvie entered administration,unable to sustain its operations. Shortly after, Willow announced that it had acquired Elvie’s assets, including its technology, branding, and intellectual property, in a deal that effectively ends Elvie’s run as an independent company.

Elvie’s collapse is more than a business story,it’s a cautionary tale about the complexity of scaling hardware startups in a still-maturing category. Femtech, for all its promise, remains underfunded compared to other health sectors. Despite massive market potential, companies like Elvie must walk a tightrope of clinical validation, user trust,manufacturing logistics, and regulatory scrutiny.

Yet the story isn’t entirely bleak. Elvie’s legacy has already reshaped the landscape, pushing taboo topics like pelvic health and breastfeeding into mainstream tech conversations. And Willow’s acquisition signals that there is still belief in the future of these products.

Consolidation may offer greater efficiency and more focused innovation. But it also raises a key question: can a U.S. company carry forward the same mission and design-first ethos that made Elvie special?

Looking Ahead

The fall of a giant like Elvie should spark reflection, not just among founders and investors in femtech, but in the wider world of digital health. Are we backing the right models? Are we prepared to support female-led innovation long enough to weather complex scale-ups? And will the next generation of femtech companies learn from Elvie’s successes and its stumbles?

Only time will tell. But for now, Elvie’s rise and fall stands as a defining chapter in the story of modern women’s health innovation.