Tania Boler: How She Built Elvie by Bringing Women's Health Into the Technology Conversation

For decades, many everyday aspects of women’s health received relatively little attention from the technology industry. Products such as breast pumps and pelvic floor trainers were often designed around functional necessity rather than convenience, discretion, or the realities of women’s lives. Tania Boler saw an opportunity to change that – and founded Elvie to develop technology for needs that had long been overlooked.

Key Takeaways

Tania Boler’s background in sexual and reproductive health shaped her understanding of the problems Elvie would eventually address.
Becoming a mother helped her recognize the gap between women’s healthcare needs and the products available to support them.
Elvie combined hardware engineering, digital technology, and thoughtful product design to rethink pelvic floor training and breast pumping.
Building a femtech company required more than product innovation; Boler also had to challenge cultural taboos and persuade investors that women’s health was a serious commercial opportunity.
Elvie’s eventual acquisition by US competitor Willow illustrates both the potential of femtech and the financial and operational difficulties of scaling a hardware business.

From Women’s Health Research to Entrepreneurship

Before becoming an entrepreneur, Tania Boler built her career around women’s health, reproductive rights, and access to healthcare. Her professional background was rooted in research and international development rather than technology or consumer product manufacturing.

Boler studied at the University of Oxford and Stanford University, where she completed doctoral research in sexual and reproductive health. She subsequently worked with international organizations, including the United Nations and Marie Stopes International, focusing on issues such as sexual education, HIV prevention, and reproductive healthcare.

Her work took her to different parts of the world, including Africa and South Asia. These experiences gave her direct exposure to the challenges women faced in accessing reliable health information and services. They also helped her understand how cultural expectations and social taboos could prevent important health issues from receiving adequate attention.

At Marie Stopes International, Boler held the position of Global Director of Research and Innovation. The role gave her experience working across research, healthcare programs, and organizational development. It also reinforced her belief that innovation could make healthcare more accessible, particularly in areas that had traditionally received limited investment.

However, she had not originally planned to become a technology entrepreneur. Her transition into business came from identifying a problem that she believed existing healthcare products and services were not adequately addressing.

The Personal Experience That Inspired Elvie

One of the most important turning points in Boler’s entrepreneurial journey came through motherhood.

After giving birth, she became more aware of pelvic floor health and the physical changes women experience during pregnancy and childbirth. She discovered that in France, where her husband is from, pelvic floor rehabilitation was a relatively familiar part of postnatal care. Women could attend specialized sessions to help strengthen their bodies after giving birth.

She was surprised that comparable support was not as accessible or widely discussed in many other countries.

Further research revealed a significant gap between the number of women experiencing pelvic floor problems and the availability of convenient solutions. Pelvic floor conditions can affect bladder control, physical comfort, and quality of life, yet conversations about them were often limited by embarrassment or a lack of public awareness.

Boler also recognized a practical problem. Rehabilitation sessions might be recommended, but attending them regularly could be difficult for women balancing childcare, work, and other responsibilities.

The technology already used in some clinical settings offered a possible direction. Real-time biofeedback could help women understand whether they were performing pelvic floor exercises correctly, but this type of technology was not readily available in everyday consumer products.

Boler began considering whether a device could bring that experience into the home.

The opportunity was not simply to make another healthcare accessory. It was to develop a product that combined medical understanding, technology, and convenience while making an uncomfortable subject easier to discuss.

Founding Elvie and Building Its First Product

Boler founded Elvie in 2013 in partnership with Alexander Asseily, an entrepreneur with experience in consumer hardware and technology through his earlier involvement with Jawbone.

The company set out to create technology-focused products addressing women’s health and wellbeing. Rather than treating women’s needs as a variation of existing consumer technology, Elvie aimed to design products specifically around women’s bodies and experiences.

Its first major product was the Elvie Trainer, an app-connected pelvic floor trainer. The device was designed to help users exercise their pelvic floor muscles while receiving feedback through a smartphone application.

The product translated a clinical concept into a consumer experience. Instead of relying entirely on instructions or guesswork, users could receive visual feedback and follow guided exercises at home.

The development process required expertise beyond software. Elvie needed to combine sensors, electronics, industrial design, manufacturing, and an understanding of women’s health. Building a physical product also meant dealing with the practical challenges of prototyping, production, quality control, and distribution.

For Boler, this was a different environment from the international health organizations in which she had previously worked. She had strong subject knowledge, but building a commercial technology company required her to assemble a team with the engineering and business expertise needed to turn an idea into a marketable product.

The Elvie Trainer helped establish the company’s identity. It also demonstrated that consumers could be interested in technology addressing intimate health concerns when the product was designed with usability and discretion in mind.

Rethinking Breast Pumping With Elvie Pump

Elvie’s next major product addressed another everyday challenge: breastfeeding and expressing breast milk.

Traditional electric breast pumps often required users to remain connected to a machine through tubing and external components. For women returning to work or trying to manage other responsibilities, the process could be restrictive and inconvenient.

Boler and her team saw an opportunity to rethink the experience.

Launched in 2018, the Elvie Pump was designed as a silent, wearable breast pump that fitted inside a nursing bra. Its wireless design allowed users to express milk while moving around, rather than remaining attached to a conventional pumping setup.

The product represented a more ambitious engineering challenge than a typical consumer accessory. It needed to fit comfortably, operate quietly, collect milk reliably, and incorporate electronic components into a compact form.

Elvie also understood that product design could influence how people perceived breastfeeding. A pump that was more discreet and easier to use could help women feel less restricted when expressing milk at work or in public settings.

The company attracted attention when the Elvie Pump was presented during London Fashion Week in 2018. The unusual launch helped introduce the product to audiences beyond the traditional healthcare and parenting markets.

It also reflected a broader part of Boler’s approach: making women’s health products visible, discussing subjects that were often treated as private, and using design to challenge assumptions about what these products should look like.

Turning a Neglected Market Into a Business

Elvie’s early products attracted interest because they addressed problems that were familiar to many women but had not received the same level of consumer technology investment as other categories.

Boler’s challenge was to turn that interest into a sustainable business.

The company needed funding to develop products, build manufacturing capacity, hire specialized employees, and expand into international markets. Hardware businesses generally require substantial upfront investment because development and production costs arise before a company can generate significant sales.

Elvie attracted investment from venture capital firms and other backers, including Octopus Ventures. The company announced a $42 million funding round in 2019, followed by an $80 million Series C round in 2021. These investments supported product development and international expansion.

The funding also demonstrated that women’s health technology could attract significant commercial interest. Investors were increasingly recognizing that markets involving reproductive health, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and pelvic floor care had been underserved.

However, fundraising was not always straightforward. Boler has spoken about the discomfort some potential investors displayed when discussing intimate women’s health products. In one interview, she described how an investor failed to understand what the Elvie Trainer was during a pitch because she had initially avoided explaining its purpose directly.

That experience influenced her approach to future meetings. She became more willing to discuss women’s anatomy and health issues openly, even when the subject made people uncomfortable.

It was a practical lesson in positioning: if a company exists to solve a problem that society rarely discusses, its founder cannot expect investors to understand the opportunity without explaining the problem clearly.

Challenging the Taboos Around Women’s Health

Elvie’s identity was closely connected to a broader cultural conversation.

For many years, subjects such as pelvic floor weakness, breastfeeding, and reproductive health were discussed less openly than other areas of healthcare. This lack of visibility affected not only public awareness but also the development and marketing of products intended to address these needs.

Boler believed that changing the conversation was part of building the business.

Elvie’s marketing and product launches often emphasized the everyday realities of women’s health rather than presenting its products as conventional medical equipment. Its approach combined technology, contemporary design, and direct communication about issues that were sometimes considered embarrassing.

This positioning helped distinguish the company in the consumer technology market. It also gave Elvie a recognizable identity within the emerging femtech sector – a term used to describe technology and products focused on women’s health and wellbeing.

Nevertheless, the company’s mission did not remove the commercial challenges. Products still had to perform reliably, meet consumer expectations, compete on price, and reach customers through effective distribution channels.

The company was attempting to serve a market with genuine unmet needs, but identifying a need does not automatically guarantee that a business can serve it profitably.

Recognition, Growth, and the Challenges of Scaling

Elvie became one of the more visible names in the femtech industry. Its products received design and innovation recognition, while the company expanded its presence in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other international markets.

Boler also received public recognition for her work. In 2021, she was named GLAMOUR’s Women of the Year Technology Gamechanger, reflecting her role in bringing greater attention to women’s health technology.

The company’s growth demonstrated that a business could build a recognizable consumer brand around products addressing intimate health needs. It also helped bring femtech into broader discussions about investment, product innovation, and the future of healthcare.

But the next stage of the journey proved more difficult.

Developing and manufacturing sophisticated hardware is expensive. Companies must manage research and development, production costs, inventory, logistics, warranties, and customer support. Expanding internationally adds further complexity, particularly when products must meet different regulatory and distribution requirements.

Elvie also operated in a competitive environment. Its breast pump business faced competition from established manufacturers and newer technology companies. Product innovation alone could not guarantee long-term commercial advantage.

In 2023, US breast-pump company Willow initiated patent litigation against Elvie, alleging infringement. The dispute added another challenge to the company’s commercial position.

In 2024, Elvie’s business and assets were acquired by Willow through a pre-pack administration process. The transaction followed financial difficulties and the legal dispute between the two companies. The acquisition brought together two competing brands, although the outcome was a difficult one for Elvie’s previous investors.

The Elvie brand and products continued under Willow’s ownership. In 2025, the companies presented their combination as a broader range of breastfeeding and women’s health products.

This development is an important part of Boler’s founder story. Elvie achieved meaningful product innovation, attracted substantial investment, and established a recognizable position in femtech. Yet its eventual sale also illustrates how difficult it can be to turn a promising hardware startup into a durable, independent company.

What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Tania Boler

1. Personal Experience Can Reveal a Larger Market Need

Boler’s experience with postnatal recovery helped her recognize a problem that extended well beyond her own circumstances. The important step was moving from a personal observation to research into how widespread the problem was and what existing solutions lacked.

Founders can use personal experiences as starting points, but successful products require a broader understanding of customer needs.

2. Expertise Can Become a Commercial Advantage

Boler’s background in reproductive health gave her a deeper understanding of the problems Elvie wanted to address. Partnering with a hardware entrepreneur and building a multidisciplinary team helped translate that knowledge into physical products.

A founder does not need to possess every technical skill personally. Understanding the problem and bringing the right expertise together can be just as important.

3. Design Matters in Traditionally Overlooked Categories

Elvie demonstrated that products addressing intimate health needs could benefit from thoughtful design, discretion, and user-friendly technology. In categories where consumers have long accepted inconvenient products, a better experience can create a meaningful point of difference.

4. Founders Must Be Prepared to Explain Uncomfortable Problems

Boler’s fundraising experiences showed that investors may not immediately understand markets shaped by social taboos. Founders need to communicate the scale of the problem, the customer demand, and the commercial opportunity without avoiding the subject that makes their business necessary.

5. A Strong Mission Still Needs a Sustainable Business Model

Elvie’s journey also provides a reminder that meaningful innovation and commercial success are not the same thing. Product development, manufacturing, intellectual property, financing, and competition all influence whether a company can remain independent and profitable over time.

Conclusion

Tania Boler built Elvie around a straightforward but important observation: women’s health needs deserved better technology, better design, and more open discussion. Drawing on her experience in reproductive health, she helped create a company that brought pelvic floor training and breast pumping into the modern consumer technology conversation.

Elvie’s products challenged established expectations and helped make femtech more visible to consumers and investors. Its growth showed the commercial potential of addressing overlooked needs, while its eventual acquisition by Willow highlighted the difficulties of scaling a hardware-focused business in a competitive market.

Boler’s story is therefore not simply about building a successful startup. It is about recognizing a neglected problem, assembling the expertise to address it, and challenging the assumptions that had allowed that problem to remain underserved. For entrepreneurs, her experience offers both an example of purposeful innovation and a realistic reminder that a compelling mission must be supported by sound execution and a sustainable business.

FAQs

Who is Tania Boler?

Tania Boler is a women’s health expert and entrepreneur best known for founding Elvie, a femtech company established in 2013. Before entering business, she worked in international reproductive health research and held senior roles with organizations including Marie Stopes International and the United Nations.

What is Elvie known for?

Elvie is known for developing technology-focused products for women’s health, particularly its app-connected pelvic floor trainer and silent, wearable breast pump. The company became a recognizable name in the femtech sector by combining hardware engineering, digital technology, and consumer product design.

Why did Tania Boler start Elvie?

Boler became interested in the opportunity after experiencing the physical changes associated with motherhood and learning more about pelvic floor rehabilitation. She identified a lack of accessible, convenient technology for women and set out to develop products that could address those needs at home.

What happened to Elvie?

Elvie’s business and assets were acquired by US competitor Willow through a pre-pack administration process in 2024, following financial difficulties and patent litigation. The Elvie brand and products continued under Willow’s ownership, and the companies later combined parts of their product offerings.

What can entrepreneurs learn from Tania Boler?

Boler’s experience demonstrates the value of identifying underserved customer needs, using specialist knowledge to guide product development, and communicating a market opportunity that others may initially overlook. Her story also shows why strong product innovation must be supported by effective financing, manufacturing, intellectual property management, and a sustainable business model.

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