At its best, technology helps make our lives easier and better. But tech relating to the female experience has been truly lacking. A woman’s body is capable of growing a human being—an incredible feat—so why isn’t there stellar tech to match? We’ve seen the statistics: Breastfeeding for a year takes a whopping 1,800 hours, which is nearly the equivalent of working a full-time job—and that’s just one of the things required of new mothers. What about the women who are trying to work an actual full-time job in addition to breastfeeding a new baby? It’s nothing short of a herculean task and often seems impossible to most. That’s where Elvie comes in. The team understands the challenges that new mothers face and creates innovative products that complement her superpowers, rather than burden her, so she can enjoy her life and her new baby.
“Our greatest challenge was building the technology that could solve the breastfeeding problems women had been enduring for far too long,” says Tania Boler, the founder and CEO of Elvie. “I’ve seen firsthand the power technology has to improve women's lives on a global scale. I started Elvie because I noticed the lack of innovation and advancement in technology for women, and I decided that I needed to do something about it.”
These problems and lack of innovation meant that women were not being empowered to do what they want—like going back to work. Before at-home breast pumps were made commercially available two decades ago, the only option was to directly breastfeed the baby—a delivery method that can be quite time-consuming. The early pumping machines were loud, required a plug, and were often uncomfortable. Until recently, pumps had yet to be infused with the smart technology that’s now present in many elements of our daily lives. “There are still very severe gender gaps in mainstream medicine, and it’s essential (and exciting) to explore opportunities to create a paradigm shift in this space,” says Boler.
That’s what motivated Boler to create better solutions than the ones that were currently offered in the women’s health space (in fact, femtech as a category didn’t even exist when Elvie got started). To do this, she started by hiring world-class female designers who intimately understood women’s needs and were capable of creating a product that spoke for itself.
Boler wasn’t an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley looking to disrupt an industry. She came at this issue as a mom, and as a women’s health expert who held leadership positions at a number of different NGOs and even at the United Nations. Boler, a mother of two, had a hard time finding good products when she was pregnant with her first child. “After pregnancy, I realized a lot of issues that women face are often swept under the rug. I never planned to start a tech company, but I soon realized that there was a massive need for innovative (and empathetic) technology to support women,” says Boler. Her personal experience led her to found Elvie in 2013 as a way to both address these taboo topics and difficult issues that women were dealing with and to create products that would address some of these pain points. The brand’s first product was Elvie Trainer, a smart pelvic-floor exerciser, before moving into the breast-pumping space with the launches of Elvie Pump in 2019 and two breastfeeding accessories, Elvie Curve and Elvie Catch, in 2020. Elvie Stride, a sleek electric breast pump, is Boler and the Elvie team’s latest solution for making breastfeeding as streamlined and easy as possible.
“One of my proudest achievements to date has been the conversations we’ve started that empower women to talk about their health, breaking decades-old taboos in the process,” says Boler. “Whether it’s helping women talk about their struggles with bladder weakness or giving mothers the flexibility they need to get on with their lives, Elvie’s work isn’t just in technology—it is a women's empowerment movement that gets people talking openly and living their best lives.”
Elvie’s latest launch, Elvie Stride, executes on Boler and Elvie’s mission: It’s a smart, ultra-quiet, and hands-free breast pump that offers mothers freedom. This hospital-strength pump is powered by a small but mighty motor built with noise-reduction technology that blends into the background, eliminating the need to be plugged into a wall or hide away while pumping. The lightweight cups each collect up to 5 ounces of milk while worn discreetly inside a standard nursing bra, maintaining a natural-looking silhouette under clothes. That means mothers can pump whenever and wherever they want, and pump from one breast or both. Not only is the whole system controlled by an app for seamless operation, but the app can also keep tabs on pumping history. Mothers can customize their settings to choose between two modes with ten different intensity settings each, ensuring they are getting the most out of every pumping session while staying comfortable. The rechargeable device charges in two hours, with enough juice to power three hours of pumping.
The hurdles in the breastfeeding space go beyond just the products. Many women choose to buy a breast pump through their health insurance, but many of those options available under full coverage are outdated, with cumbersome cords that require being stuck near an outlet to pump. “When it comes to breastfeeding technology, there’s a significant gap in accessibility in the U.S. market, with few options covered by insurers offering high-quality, modern design,” says Boler. Elvie wanted to offer that market a pump that checked all the boxes and gave women a product that was high-tech, innovatively designed, discreet, and cost-effective. Elvie Stride fits seamlessly into a new mother’s life (and under her clothes), helping make the process of feeding her baby a little bit easier so she can go about her day.
“Part of our mission is to focus on changing perceptions around women’s health and reducing unnecessary health problems, thus empowering and supporting them throughout every life stage,” says Boler. As Elvie seeks to empower women and spark conversation about important women’s health issues, they’ll continue to make sleek, innovative products along the way.
This article was produced by WIRED Brand Lab on behalf of Elvie.
