Pembroke VCT plc, the venture capital trust focused on backing early-stage businesses led by exceptional founders and management teams, has invested into Harrogate-based My Expert Midwife, the award-winning, midwife-founded brand for pregnancy, birth and beyond.
The £2 million fundraise was led by Pembroke, who invested £1.5 million alongside existing shareholders and angel investors.
My Expert Midwife was established in 2017 by registered midwife, Lesley Gilchrist and massage specialist, Claire Charlton. Drawing from their personal experience and professional expertise of caring for women throughout pregnancy, the brand launched a range of no-nonsense products developed to tackle taboos around pregnancy and childbirth for new and expectant mums and new babies. At the heart of the business is a team of expert midwives with 140+ years of combined experience in midwifery.
The brand currently has a portfolio of 19 products all designed to help women prepare and recover during pregnancy, birth and early parenthood alongside midwife-developed webinars, antenatal classes and e-books. Spritz for Bits, the brand’s iconic and award-winning perineal recovery spray, has helped over 300,000 women recover following childbirth. Products are sold online and in Boots, John Lewis, Ocado, JoJo Maman Bébé and Next and are glowingly recommended by thousands of mums.
The investment will help support My Expert Midwife scale the business through new product development and channel expansion. In the UK, over 5 million people are on their pregnancy journey each year from trying to conceive, to pregnancy, and caring for a child under one. The global maternity products market is estimated to be valued at £7.5 billion ($9 billion)* with the pregnancy care products market expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% 2021-2028.**
Fred Ursell, Investment Director, Pembroke Investment Managers LLP commented; “We are excited to be backing such a knowledgeable and experienced team to provide amazing products and expert advice to new and growing families around the country. This is a sector with huge potential and we are looking forward to helping the team explore new opportunities for the My Expert Midwife brand in future.”
Lesley Gilchrist, registered midwife and co-founder of My Expert Midwife added: “Our driving vision is to help all parents-to-be on their journey to parenthood, every step of the way, from preconception, through pregnancy and birth, to recovery and caring for their new baby, whether that be through our expert information guides and eBooks, our midwife-developed products or our antenatal education services.
“We are delighted that our new partnership with Pembroke will help us to springboard those plans and help more parents-to-be than ever before.”
References:
- https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/maternity-care-market-share-industry-analysis-reports-global-forecast-till-2022-2031-2022-04-28 ** Mordor Intelligence, 2021
