Acquisition of Expectful by Babylist Expands Reach in Maternal Wellness
We are happy to announce that our portfolio company Expectful was recently acquired by Babylist, the leading vertical marketplace, and commerce destination for babies, driving purchase decisions for more than 8 million people each year.
Expectful is a wellness platform and media site for hopeful, expecting, and new parents. Many new parents struggle with personal health and well-being through pregnancy and early parenthood, and the healthcare system in the United States fails to support mothers as they navigate this phase of life. Moreover, more than 64% of pregnant women report feeling anxious or struggling to balance self-care with caring for their families. Expectful tackles these challenges head-on by curating the world’s most extensive library of meditations specifically targeting maternal health, supporting parents through all stages of the pregnancy journey, including typically “taboo” topics, such as struggling to conceive, miscarriage/pregnancy loss, postpartum depression, and postpartum recovery. Customers of Expectful not only love the mediation, but recent clinical trials have found that Expectful can have meaningful health results, including increased breast milk production and stress reduction.
The acquisition will enhance Expectful’s reach in the market, providing families with a complete solution for the parenthood journey, from baby gear to mental and wellness support. It also strengthens Babylist’s position as a one-stop shop for all things baby.
Our team is excited about Expectful’s new chapter as part of Babylist, especially given our investment thesis focused on FemTech. The FemTech market is expected to reach $3.0 billion by 2030, mainly driven by the adoption of mobile applications to monitor and track health, just as Expectful has been doing. Our investment was driven by a few key factors that set Expectful apart from the competition.
Firstly, the company has a talented and experienced team. The CEO and co-founder, Nathalie Walton, is an experienced operator, bringing expertise in launching and scaling eCommerce platforms from her work at Airbnb, Google, and eBay. Before becoming CEO, Nathalie was an active user of Expectful, using the application daily to help her navigate her own high-risk pregnancy. As a result, she deeply understands the target market and how to transform this business into the go-to media site for parents.
Secondly, Expectful is the one of the only FemTech company to offer an end-to-end wellness solution for new moms, focused on all pregnancy and early parenthood stages, which makes their approach unique and effective. In contrast, most competitors’ solutions only target one part of the pregnancy journey. Also, in addition to impressive user loyalty, Expectful is clinically proven to improve health outcomes for expecting and new mothers. We are very excited to support an organization that contributes to mothers’ health and well-being.
The acquisition of Expectful is an important milestone for Babylist and the FemTech market. With its unique solution, cutting-edge technology, and strong traction, Expectful is poised for great continued success, and we are proud to have been a part of their journey. We also congratulate Nathalie Walton and the entire team at Expectful for partnering with Babylist to continue to support mothers!
