Nurse, with startup on hiatus, turns to the crisis

The coronavirus pandemic halted most of the progress Lauren Wright had made with the promising Tampa startup she co-founded in 2018, the Natural Nipple.

Behind a line of bottles to help nursing mothers overcome latching problems, the firm was near the prototype phase. Among its accolades and grants: It was awarded $53,000 for customer discovery research by the National Science Foundation, was selected as the Most Promising Health Care Innovation of 2018 by Florida Blue Healthcare, won the first Clinical Quickfire Challenge and investment by Johnson & Johnson for $50,000, and was one of eight area companies selected to pitch for Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest Tour.