Elvie (Chiaro Technology)

Chiaro Technology Limited, trading as Elvie, was founded in 2013 by Tania Boler and became one of the best-known British femtech brands, selling wearable breast pumps, a pelvic-floor trainer and later the Elvie Rise bouncer. It raised a $42M Series B in 2019 and a Series C in 2021 led by BGF that reached £70M ($97M) with its extension, backed by BlackRock Private Equity Partners, Octopus Ventures, IPGL, Hiro Capital, Westerly Winds and Blume Equity. The company was in a long-running patent dispute with Willow, its main US rival. On 28 March 2025 the directors appointed Lindsay Hallam, Matthew Callaghan and Oliver Wright of FTI Consulting as joint administrators, and substantially all of the business and assets were sold immediately to Willow Blossom Holdco Limited. What had started as merger talks between the two companies ended as an asset purchase from insolvency.

FTI Consulting were appointed joint administrators on 28 March 2025 and completed a sale of substantially all business and assets to Willow Blossom Holdco Limited the same day; the Elvie range now sits under Willow. The administration was extended in March 2026 and a notice of intended dividend to creditors was gazetted in May 2026.

A premium hardware brand with over $139M of equity still ran out of road once growth capital dried up, and a patent war with its closest competitor ended with that competitor buying the assets cheaply from administrators. The pre-pack preserved the brand but not the shareholders.