How “accidental entrepreneur” Edwina Sharrock founded, and sold, Birth Beat

As a midwife and mum, Edwina Sharrock was frustrated at the lack of specialised birth classes for women in her hometown of Tamworth.

Deciding to create the health support she wanted to see, Sharrock entered into the world of entrepreneurship by launching Birth Beat – Australia’s first digital childbirth education platform.

The business delivers evidenced-based, obstetrician-endorsed, and midwife-led childbirth educational content to improve health outcomes for women, their babies and families during early parenthood.

Now, after nearly seven years of success, Birth Beat is entering a new, exciting chapter as the business has been acquired by leading medical technology company, Device Technologies.

For Sharrock, the unplanned acquisition of Birth Beat by Device Technologies marks a pivotal chapter in her entrepreneurial story. It gives the CEO, board member, mum of two, and startup mentor a rare opportunity to pause and reflect.

Here, Sharrock shares her perspective on the acquisition of Birth Beat, the serendipitous nature of her story, and her vision for the future of female entrepreneurship.

How did Birth Beat start?

I’ve often joked that I was an accidental entrepreneur – which I think is true for many female startup founders.

We see a problem or a need and think, “OK, rather than complain, I’m going to do something about it”. There isn’t necessarily this overarching plan to start a company, it’s more about getting on with it and creating the solution.

As a midwife and mum, I was frustrated for local women and their families in my hometown of Tamworth at the closure of the local private hospital’s maternity ward and the subsequent lack of specialised birth classes.

I complained about it for a while but then realised I had the opportunity to do something about it. I didn’t have a business plan or any aspirations of becoming a startup founder – I simply wanted to offer an alternative with midwife-led, modern childbirth classes.

So, I launched Birth Beat on the lounge room floor of my Tamworth home, teaching expecting mothers and their partners what they needed to know about childbirth on weekends.

Surprisingly, the demand soon outgrew face-to-face classes. I remember having a couple who had travelled over 8 hours to participate in a class. That was when I knew I had to create something more than the in-person offering.

In 2017, I developed Australia’s first digital childbirth education platform.

It was an absolute leap into the unknown – this was before online courses were a thing. There were many sleepless nights Googling how to build an online course and creating my website while working as a nurse and continuing to teach face-to-face classes.

In the years following, I won a Commonwealth Bank Innovation Award and had the opportunity to refine Birth Beat’s online course platform with access to their innovation labs. I then participated in the 12-week HCF’s Slingshot Accelerator, allowing me to develop the platform further.

I was a contestant on Shark Tank in 2018, where I was offered a 10% stake investment offer from Janine Allis, the founder of Boost Juice. That same year, Birth Beat secured seed funding. However, I later decided to reclaim 100% ownership of Birth Beat.

What led to the sale of Birth Beat?

The decision to sell wasn’t an easy one. In some ways, it feels like I’m selling my third baby – definitely not part of the plan.

Throughout 2020 and beyond, Birth Beat enjoyed healthy growth in direct-to-consumer and newly targeted B2B and B2C markets with several corporate and private hospital partnerships and private health fund rebate status.

When Device approached me, I wasn’t really looking to sell the business.

Michael Trevaskis, the CEO of Device, was introduced to me by a mutual friend from my nursing days who also worked at Device. Although Device was interested in buying, I still wasn’t actively thinking about investment or selling.

However, as conversations continued, it became clear that we shared similar values and a desire to deliver the best customer service. I realised that this partnership would open up new opportunities for Birth Beat.

When I reminded myself that making more impact and ultimately reaching more women and their families has always been my mission, the decision was easier.

How does it feel to sell ‘your third baby’?

I’m genuinely excited to be partnering with Device Technologies.

At Birth Beat, the vision has always been to provide world-class childbirth education to expecting parents, so it feels right to partner with a company that shares the same vision and values

Device Technologies source the best medical devices, innovations, systems, and services worldwide to ensure they’re delivering the best possible patient outcomes.

And I’m really proud that they’ve recognised Birth Beat as a world-class offering, choosing to make this strategic investment in an Australian company.

We aim to provide exceptional support, education, and innovative content delivery to expecting parents. This aligns perfectly with Device Technologies’ dedication to growth and innovation in health and wellness.

But I’m not going to lie. While it’s been exciting, it’s also been an emotional time. Birth Beat has been a huge part of my life and my family’s life for more than eight years now.

Much like a proud parent, though, who’s a little sad to be saying goodbye to their child when they move away from home, I’m excited to see what this next chapter brings for Birth Beat.

What does the future look like for you?

Partnering with Device has given me an unplanned chance to pause and reflect on what I want the next phase of my career to look like.

After ‘accidentally’ falling into business, I know I want to continue working in the startup space.

I’ll continue working with the business as we partner and scale with Device. However, I’m also excited about new opportunities to contribute to the broader business community through board work, consulting, and mentoring.

I’m currently a board member, a non-executive director of the Hunter New England and Central Coast Primary Health Network, a member of the Advisory Board of the UNE SMART Region Incubator, and a Telstra Regional Advisory Committee member.

As I’ve sat and thought about my involvement in the Australian startup space, there’s one statistic that stands out to me as a personal challenge and source of motivation.

According to the State of Australian Funding Report, only three percent of VC capital goes to all-women-founded startups. I’m determined to do my part to increase that percentage in the years to come.

I feel incredibly passionate about supporting women in business and I’ll be taking the opportunity to work with other female founders to help them grow, secure funding, and ultimately achieve their business goals.

That’s where’ll focus my energy for now and while I’m sad to be saying goodbye to one phase of my life, I feel really energised and inspired by the new one.

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.