Breastfeeding: Baby tech is one area that continues to boom. Globally, new parents are constantly seeking ways of using innovation to help make their lives a little easier as their child develops. One of the biggest issues with newborns that continues to cause confusion amongst new mums and dads is understanding breastfeeding, how it works and ways of ensuring babies have received enough milk.

According to the NHS, in the UK alone, over seventy per cent of mothers have experienced breastfeeding difficulties. In addition, figures from Crunchbase estimate the baby tech market size is around 35 billion euros. One founder looking to solve gaps in the breastfeeding process is Rosanne Longmore, CEO of Irish medtech startup Coroflo. The company, which raised 2.8m euros in funding last year, has developed a game-changing breastfeeding monitor which enables mothers to measure and assess how much breastmilk their baby is consuming. We caught up with the successful female founder and asked her about the idea, how she found leaping into entrepreneurship and how she’s ready to launch.

Firstly, Rosanne, can you please tell us about yourself? Where are you from?

I’m originally from the midlands of Ireland. I studied at the University of Limerick before settling in Dublin. Prior to what is now my business, Coroflo, my career was in financial services, so moving into the world of startups was a big change for me.

Where did the concept for Coroflo come from?

Coroflo was born when my co-founders Helen and Jamie experienced the problem of ‘concern regarding low supply of milk’ with the arrival of their first baby. Helen really wanted to breastfeed but was unsure if her new baby was getting enough. As a doctor, although she understood the issues around pre and post feed weighing in a domestic environment, she wanted accurate information. As parents, they searched the market for breastmilk monitors and were stunned that none existed. Coincidentally, Jamie was working in the area of microflow sensing in another industry. He understood that getting the technology to fit and function within the existing standard shield was the optimum solution and set about achieving that.

Can you tell us a bit about the technology involved?

Without giving away our secret sauce, it’s probably the miniaturisation of technology over the past ten years which has enabled us to be the first to develop it. Like most innovations, it’s been the right technology with the right team at the right time.

What do you believe are the biggest challenges facing women who breastfeed?

The biggest challenge for the mothers we meet is ‘concern regarding low supply’; in other words, they do not know if their baby is getting enough milk. We see women initiating breastfeeding in very high numbers but, at the six month mark (which is the exclusive breastfeeding target), the rates are incredibly low. When women are asked why they stop breastfeeding sooner than they had planned, this is always one of the main reasons. We want to give women accurate information so they can make the best decision on how to feed their baby whilst helping them to meet their own breastfeeding goals. If we can help solve this one problem, Coro can potentially increase breastfeeding rates and, in turn, impact global health population outcomes.

Are you able to share data gathered with medical professionals?

Unfortunately, this is not right now, but the initial clinical study results are due to be published shortly.

What makes Coro different from competing technology?

Believe me when I say there is no competing technology. Coro is truly a novel, the first in the world.

The current gold standard for establishing breast milk transfer is pre and post feed weighing. This method is accurate when conducted in a highly protocolised environment, where a medical professional conducts the weighing using high precision, motion-compensated scales and more. This method is not recommended outside of the clinical environment due to the level of inaccuracies. So, for the vast majority of mothers, Coro will be the first time they will have access to accurate, precise and real-time data in the comfort of their own home in a less stressful setting. 

What are the biggest challenges you face as a female entrepreneur?

Money, I know this is a very unoriginal answer, but unfortunately, it’s the case. When you set out to develop a technology that has never existed, there’s only a certain profile of investors who can handle that type of risk. With all initial funding for research and development without any guarantee of success, lengthy testing cycles and a lengthy trajectory to market, there’s no getting away from the cash management side of the business. Luckily for us, with my knowledge of the funding industry and the enormous health benefits of breastfeeding to babies, mothers and society, we have been backed by the Irish government and the European Innovation Council, who funded much of our early clinical studies and technology iterations. These grant funding programs allow deep-tech companies like us to bridge the gap between research and development and getting Coro out to the market.

Have you faced any obstacles in attracting funding?

I have faced all of them. Attracting funding is never easy, but it can be difficult for a product that has never existed, where you have zero sales! However, the simplicity of solving ‘how much breastmilk is my baby getting?’ also gives us an advantage. For example, it is easy for investors to ask women, ‘was this a problem for you when you were breastfeeding’? Or ‘would you buy this product’? It is relatively straightforward for them to ascertain the size of the market, the size of the problem, and the global potential for our product.

What are your plans for Coroflo for 2025?

After 8 years of research and development alongside numerous clinical studies and technical validation, we are officially launching to the market this coming March. This is a whole new era for us, and we recently brought new people to our team in retail, growth, and marketing. It’s a very exciting time for us, our investors and, of course, the mothers and babies who are crying out for our product.

And finally, what are your ambitions for the product and your future?

Getting Coro into the hands of every woman who needs it! As a team, I believe we need to stay focused on the milestones ahead of us. For now, that’s launching in Europe and the UK.