Breastfeeding app developed by Oscar-winning CGI expert secures £1m

The former head of Google UK and Ireland is among the business heavyweights who have invested in a pioneering support app for new mums.

LatchAid, a startup launched by CGI specialist Dr Chen Mao Davies, has raised £1m seed funding to grow and develop its breastfeeding and early parenthood app.

A member of tech incubator SETSquared Bristol, LatchAid uses cutting-edge technology and 3D avatars to help expectant and new mothers learn breastfeeding skills, while also connecting them to peer support groups, experts to provide one-to-one advice and an artificial intelligence (AI) powered virtual chatbot.

Chen previously worked on Oscar and BAFTA award-winning visual effects for Hollywood blockbusters Gravity and Blade Runner 2049. Her own struggles with breastfeeding – and the lack of support available – prompted the CGI specialist to launch LatchAid.

“I was determined to breastfeed my child,” says Chen. “But nobody told me how difficult and painful it could be.

“I developed mastitis and thrush and it went on for weeks with mum and baby crying during feeding time. I just felt such a failure – I couldn’t feed my own baby. His weight dropped and I developed postnatal depression.

“As a technologist, I was frankly shocked by the lack of innovation in this space. We had once a week peer support groups, which were useful – but what about 2am when you’re lonely, in pain and at your lowest point?”

The company’s total funding to date has comprised a mix of innovation loans, convertible loan note from the KQ Labs accelerator programme and equity investment from strategic business angel investors.

Speaking to SETSquared Bristol, Chen said: “As a Chinese female solo entrepreneur running a women’s health business, it’s not easy to find investment.

“But if you can find the right investors, great ideas and a great team will ultimately attract funding. SETsquared Bristol’s support via the Breakthrough Bursary and Enterprising Women has given me a huge amount of exposure, as well as the expertise and network to grow very fast.”

The UK has among the lowest breastfeeding rate in the world, with a high percentage of women giving up breastfeeding before they want to because of pain, health issues or lack of support.

The £1m funding will be used to augment the technical and commercial teams and to expand the company’s business to business offerings to healthcare organisations as a licensed prescription app, to corporates for employee benefit schemes and to insurance companies.

Dan Cobley, a former managing director of Google UK & Ireland, venture capitalist Eileen Burbidge MBE and Priya Oberoi, founding partner of the female-centred healthcare fund Goddess Gaia Ventures are among the investors, with £510,000 of the funding coming from an Innovate UK Innovation Loan.

Dan said: “Chen has already achieved so much with such limited resources. I am convinced that, with this funding and the support of such a great group of angels, LatchAid will grow to be an amazing force for good in this critical health area, first in the UK and then across the world.”

Main photo: LatchAid

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