Funding

2022 Funding FLRF

FLRF is an independent, philanthropic foundation set up in 2013 by Michael and Göran, together with their father Olle Larsson, and in honor of their mother Doris.

2004 Olle Larsson FLRF

We have one priority: helping build innovative, sustainable pathways to a world where every child has an optimum start in life though the benefits of breastmilk.

Based in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, the Foundation operates strictly within the boundaries set by the Swiss legal framework and therefore is governed by an independent, external Foundation Board and a Managing Director. FLRF is the sole shareholder of Olle Larsson Holding AG (OLH), gifted by Michael and Göran, together with their father Olle Larsson, to the Foundation in 2013. OLH comprises several companies, including real estate assets, medical technology companies and the Medela Group.

The Foundation is a wholly independent organization. The operation of the Foundation has no connection to the operative assets it owns. FLRF is funded by receiving dividends from its shares in OLH.

We see our financial independence as a significant benefit; it allows us the flexibility and freedom to approach the entrenched challenges around improving breastfeeding rates in new ways, and our scientific rigor provides a foundation to chart new paths toward a healthier world in which all children are able to benefit from breastmilk.

The foundation believes that significant and sustainable increases in breastfeeding require innovative and sustainable financing mechanisms. That’s why our investing strategy is grounded in long-term investments and partnerships that often span 10 years or more, giving partners and programs the time they need to achieve impact and become self-sustaining. FLRF provides funding through endowments and grants and develops resources to transform knowledge and support sustainable capacity building efforts where they are most needed to drive impact at scale.

Through our long-term, sustainable funding model, we are generating knowledge and applying it to effect sustainable change to make breastfeeding the norm. At the Global Nutrition Summit in Milan, Italy in 2017, the foundation committed to spending 75 to 100 million Swiss francs and we are on track to fulfill our commitment.