"I Told Him: 'Either We Invent a Solution Ourselves, or I Stop Breastfeeding'"

Even if you have no direct connection to breastfeeding issues, we recommend continuing to read this article. A new Israeli start-up with a patented breast pump named "Anabella" (explanation coming soon) is launching another funding round on the crowdfunding platform Exit Valley. To the skeptics, we’ll just note that the last time they raised NIS 5.5 million in 24 hours. Today, the company is worth much more.

The story begins in the kitchen of Masha and Senia Waldberg. She, a graduate of the Law School at Tel Aviv University, and he, a marketing expert who works in copywriting and advertising, welcomed their little daughter Anabella (now 7). Masha, who had to pump milk, suffered during the pumping.

“When I was preparing for parenthood, I studied like I was studying for the bar exams. I read almost every possible material and did market research,” says Waldberg. “But the first time I put the breast pump on, I was shocked. My first thought was that I might as well put my vacuum cleaner on me and get the same effect.”

After days of suffering and trying to find a solution, the couple stood in the kitchen, and Masha told Senia, half-jokingly, half-seriously, that if they didn’t invent a solution themselves, she would stop breastfeeding. “It was something like, ‘If I don’t build a pump, this won’t happen anymore,’” she said. Senia, who had some experience in a different kind of start-up before quitting, said yes.

With Tears in Her Eyes

“My passion was in working at an advertising agency,” he recalls. “After I left the start-up, I studied with Tirza Granot and wanted to be a screenwriter. Then I opened an agency and started working with banks and senior politicians as a copywriter and strategist. But we knew we had to create Anabella because there was an opportunity to solve a very painful problem.”

Uri Yaffe, the company’s CEO, who spent years managing companies and developing business (Amdocs, Check Point, etc.), was in the Netherlands at the time, looking for his next role and not in a hurry to return to Israel. “A friend sent me an ad about a new company developing a breastfeeding patent and looking for a CEO. I have four daughters, and I still remember my wife sitting on a chair, trying to pump milk with tears in her eyes. That excited me, and I joined the team of entrepreneurs in the company's very early days.”

The secret to the success of start-ups is when they find a need that lacks a solution. Still, it’s a semi-medical product, and you come almost from nowhere...

Yaffe: “What we are doing here is creating a new start-up for breast pumps and basically adding what was missing—a feature that mimics the suckling and pumping action of a baby’s mouth, like the baby’s tongue movement. We have created a pump unlike any other in the world. This pump extracts 1.5 times more milk than a leading market pump on average, and most importantly, it does so comfortably.”

Masha: “Also, our motto from day one—and this is something we maybe apply to our way of life—is to do what we know and what we don’t know, delegate to a professional team. Therefore, when the discussion began about the company itself, about developing the patent, and especially about who would lead it, there was a discussion about who would do it. Senia supported me, partly because of my personal connection to the product, but as much as I love learning, developing, and doing new things, I don’t know how to manage a complex company and realize the vision of a product that, as you said yourself, is half a medical product and reach the stage where it is sold worldwide. I knew I needed someone who could realize my dream. That’s how we got to Ori.”

“The product itself,” Masha explains, “is first and foremost a pump like any other, but our competitors lack the added value we have. The market has mini ‘vacuum cleaners,’ as I like to say, and vacuum action. The innovation is in mimicking the baby’s tongue action that operates in addition to the sucking action. Additionally, it has an adjustable height and size function, and most importantly, this action is not only painless but also pleasant.”

Money Pump

A total of about NIS 30 million has been invested in the company. Along with sharks like Oren Dobronski and Yasmin Lukatz, investors such as Zohar Gillon have also joined. Anabella's first model was launched in 2023 in Israel. The company already received a patent approval for the first of 11 inventions it submitted and, of course, FDA approval for sales in the U.S., where they already have operations.

Why did you choose crowdfunding?

Senia: “I’ve been in the crowdfunding field almost from the beginning. One of my first fundraisers in this field before Anabella was through this platform, which turned out to be very successful. With Anabella, we broke an Israeli record twice. Since it was forbidden to exceed the 4 million threshold per round, we had to go for two consecutive rounds because we surpassed the threshold amount in no time.”

As mentioned, their first public fundraising—was the fastest and largest ever through digital investor fundraising. In fact, it’s one of the few companies that has been approved to raise around 20 million shekels through a crowdfunding platform—after submitting a prospectus.

Masha: “I can say that developing a product that essentially tries to replicate a baby’s sucking action is the biggest lesson in humility I’ve ever had. But because it’s such a well-known problem, it was very easy to engage people and ask for help. Almost everyone who was present near a woman pumping milk understood that something was missing there, and something was not suitable. And yes, it’s a start-up, and we are raising money and succeeding in making profits and improving things, but I also see it as a mission. We are trying to correct an existing situation of products that are not only not good enough but sometimes also hurt the purpose.”

Yaffe: “We had many volunteers who helped us in the early stages of the trials. The product was very well received at its launch last February. It was launched at ‘Shilav’ and on our website, and in a short time, we took a significant market share. We receive amazing responses from mothers, including thank-you letters from mothers in NICUs who, thanks to Anabella, manage to provide milk to their babies, which they couldn’t do with any other pump. That in itself is touching.”

Anabella was launched simultaneously in the U.S., with FDA approval, and the team plans to expand its activity range after the current fundraising, also to Europe and additional markets. In Israel, it is sold in pharmacies and on the company’s private website at a price range between NIS 1,390 for a single pump and NIS 1,890 for the double pump, similar to the price of leading pumps on the market.

I understand that your employee recruitment, and particularly customer recruitment, has a unique criterion.

Waldberg: “The reason we have unique customer service is primarily because of the product's necessity. Pumping is not natural, and even breastfeeding, which is natural, doesn’t mean there’s no learning curve and doesn’t need support. With pumping, it’s even more pronounced because it’s not intuitive. Therefore, the entire customer service team consists of lactation consultants and those who can also assist in this aspect. The automatic thought of every woman using the pump is to set it to the highest level to get more milk, and it doesn’t really work that way. We don’t have a tribe, in everything related to raising children and breastfeeding today, so we try to somehow bring it back, at least on a digital platform and in support.”

Yaffe: “In any company, and especially in a start-up, every employee is very significant. We choose them with a fine-tooth comb, and fortunately, we have an excellent engineering team of creative and dedicated people without whom this wouldn’t have happened. In marketing, too, we chose people who understand online marketing both in the U.S. and Israel. People make our company, and we strive for it to be a pleasant company that allows diversity of opinions and relevance.”

Pumping Discreetly

Anabella, the 7-year-old daughter of Senia and Masha, not only understands she’s turning her parents into a company close to an eventual exit but is also actively involved in choosing brand colors. Occasionally, when the couple is interviewed, she even offers insights. “For me,” says Masha, “I want the pumps of the past to be what a rotary phone is today.”

What's the Forecast?

Masha: "Beyond the fact that we're in the market with two products—a regular pump and a double pump—we're working on expanding the company’s product range and adding additional value. One of the upcoming developments will be an accessible pump, meaning you can take all the functions currently in our pump and put them into a small, discreet cap. Imagine being able to tuck it into your bra, pump discreetly, and suction. Currently, there is no accessible pump on the market without an adjustable mechanism, and our vision is to take Anabella forward. After solving the efficiency issue of suction, the mission is to provide freedom."

Yaffe: "In the second generation of the accessible pump, we will also launch an accompanying app, incorporating all the functions lactation consultants discuss with customers in customer service."

Masha: "Reminders for nursing sessions, whether a woman suddenly pumps at irregular hours, which can change milk production. Reminders for sleep times, etc."

Is it easier or harder to sell such a product abroad?

Yaffe: "No product is easy to sell. You need to build an organized marketing system to find the right people, develop digital assets, and build the brand. It takes time to build a brand, but we're progressing."

With such rapid success, are you already fantasizing about an exit?

Yaffe: "Ultimately, our role is to create value for shareholders, and when a suitable offer comes, we will consider it."

Masha: "Right now, it's important for us to go public with this and involve the public in this round of fundraising. First of all, so everyone can join and invest. Choosing crowdfunding was natural because it's essentially a necessary product, and although the comparison to e-commerce isn’t exactly accurate here, with a necessary product, people vote with their feet—if it's good, they'll buy it. And it's a product that's very easy to understand, connect with, and it changes lives for every woman."