Breastfeeding technology startup Coroflo raises €2.8m in funding The Dublin-based startup will see its silicone nipple sensor technology enter Irish shops later this year Coroflo, a Dublin-based startup that has developed a breastfeeding monitor, has closed a €2.8 million funding round ahead of a market launch. The monitor, Coro, is a silicone nipple shield containing a patented micro-flow measurement process that allows mothers to know how much breastmilk their baby is consuming. The World Health Organisaion and the medical community advise women, where possible, to breastfeed for six months because of the health benefits associated with it. But in Europe, just 13pc of mothers reach this target and this trend, with other territories such as China and the US, in a similar position. “When the reasons why women stop breastfeeding sooner than they want to are examined, one of the main reasons citged is not knowing if their baby is getting enough milk,” said Rosanne Longmore, CEO of Coroflo. “Mothers become concerned and anxious and introduce formula.” Ms Longmore points out that for mothers who bottle feed their babies, there’s a precise view of how much milk their baby is getting, a reassurance which sometimes isn’t there for breastfeeding mothers. “There is no product in the world that can tell a mother how much milk her baby is getting, until now,” she said. “Coro can tell a mother if their breastmilk supply is adequate or alert her to seek assistance.” Mothers can wear the Coro silicone nipple and, as the baby is being dead, a broad range of consumption and flow data is transmitted to an app on their phone in real time. Coroflo was founded in 2017 by co-founder and CTO, Jamie Travers, an electronics engineer with expertise in microflow sensing technologies. Co-founder and chief research officer, Dr Helen Barry, is the clinical lead while CEO Rosanne Longmore is a former executive at Davy. To date the company has raised €4.2m in equity funding. This latest round includes veteran tech investor Brian Caulfield and Shemas Eivers of the Boole Syndicate. Ms Longmore said that a number of private well known investors from the technology and financial sectors, who had backed the business in their seed round have also followed their money. Coroflo has also received significant backing from the European Innovation Council, with €2.1m received as part of the Horizon 2020 programme. Coroflo is also an Enterprise Ireland ‘High Potential Start-Up’ and recently appointed the former Tanaiste, Mary Harney, to its board. Ms Longmore said that Coroflo plans to use the latest investment to launch the product, build production, move to larger lab and office space within its DCU Alpha campus and double its headcount. The company has recently hired a number of senior biomedical and mechanical engineers, she added. Coroflo has commercial contracts in place with McCabe and McCauley’s pharmacy chains in the Republic of Ireland and will see its product in stores “in the latter half of the year”. Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel Stay up to date with all the latest news
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