Expansion required
Bio engineer and lactation specialist Roeline Ham launched Boobs-’n-Burps in June 2010 from her own living room, with a box of bras and a range of feeding tops. Five year laters, the company has stores in Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent, and an international web shop. In order to compete with the bigger competitors, it now feels the need to expand quickly.
MamaNANA mainly focuses on textile products, like breast-feeding clothing and feeding bras, a collection which will now be aligned with Boobs-’n-Burps’s current product range. Pumps, books, services and several lactation-oriented accessories will now be added to its online product range, while its website design will get a make-over.
Ségolène and Drew Shagrin launched mamaNANA in 2005, in Paris. In 2011, its best year so far, it managed a turnover of more than 1 million euro.
Backed by investment fund
SI2 Fund, a relatively new investment fund, helped finance the deal after the fund had already invested in Boobs-’n-Burps in July 2013. It wants to help the chain achieve its expansion goals.
74 % of French mothers start out breast-feeding, while only 63 % of Belgian mothers do similarly. On the other hand, French mothers only breast-feed for 24 days before switching to other means or adding other methods to the mix.
