Growing Human Proteins: The Next Generation of Food Science
Bringing precision fermentation to babies and families — Plum Alley’s rationale for investing in Helaina.
by Andrea Turner Moffitt and Alicia Zheng
Announced by TechCrunch and Business Insider, Helaina raises $20 million Series A to scale production of its human milk proteins using precision fermentation. The round was co-led by Spark Capital and Siam Capital with participation from Plum Alley Investments, Primary Venture Partners, Tom Williams, celebrity mom investors including Gabrielle Union, Hannah Bronfman, Matt Rutler, among other investors. Plum Alley’s investment in Helaina fits squarely within our commitment to invest in advanced technologies building category defining companies with generational impact.
With this Series A round, Helaina is positioning itself to be first to market making functional human proteins, starting with infant formula. Helaina was founded in 2019 by nutritionist and NYU food science professor Laura Katz, who is aspiring to advance nutrition by recreating the functional components of human milk.
Alternative Proteins Transforming Our Food Systems:
Consumers around the globe are increasingly embracing alternatives to animal proteins due to environmental and health considerations. The adoption of alternative proteins will have a measurable positive impact on human health and the environment.
Early this year, Boston Consulting Group (“BCG”) published the report “Food for Thought: The Protein Transformation” in which BCG projected that the global market for alternative protein products will reach $290 billion by 2035 with faster technological innovations and favorable regulatory support to meet consumer demands for healthy proteins and social benefits. Within the alternative protein market, plant-based offerings are the largest projected segment, but the microorganism segment, such as yeast, fungi or bacteria, is expected to see tremendous growth. BCG’s report projects nearly 50% growth in microorganism-based alternative proteins over the next fifteen years.
The exciting opportunity that lies ahead is applying the latest advancements in alternative proteins to new segments beyond meat. We’ve seen a lot of innovation and advancement in the dairy space, however, the infant formula category has been stagnant for decades.
Beyond Meat: What About Babies and Families?
Protein is an essential part of an infant’s diet to grow and thrive. “Breast is best” has long been the mantra for new parents who are typically panicked trying to make sure their newborn hits optimal weight gain. I can remember being in the hospital with a 2am visit from the nurse on duty in the nursery. Shaking me awake, she pronounced “your daughter has lost more than 10% of her birth weight”. She went on to recommend giving her formula as I was struggling to feed her. In a completely disoriented state, I immediately responded “yes, of course.” It was not until the next day that I fully appreciated what transpired.
Following that episode, two realities emerged for me. I struggled for 8 weeks to figure out how to successfully breastfeed. It was likely sheer competitive drive and the trauma of judgement from so many who said “you let the nurses give your baby formula hours after birth” that led me to a relentless commitment to breastfeed for 8 months. Despite being formula fed myself (without any allergies), I was convinced that I would fail my child if I didn’t ensure she had the optimal immune benefits of breast milk. Mother’s milk will always be best. But, with 140 million babies born each year globally, 89% of parents like me struggled to breastfeed their newborns.
For my third child in 2019, I was searching for a better, more organic formula alternative by month three. I was amazed that despite advancements in food science and biotech in so many other domains, we’d yet to dramatically improve infant formula. It’s certainly a step in the right direction that the $70B infant formula industry is slowly transitioning away from corn syrup, sugar, palm oil and maltodextrin bovine based ingredients. New entrants in the market are offering organic, grass-fed cow based infant formula. But, it’s not enough. How is it that we can get an Impossible Whopper at Burger King, but we have yet to bring to market a healthier solution for babies that more closely resembles mothers milk?
Helaina is the first company to use precision fermentation to make infant milk using human equivalent proteins.
Helaina: Precision Fermentation Growing Human Proteins
To-date, precision fermentation has been used to manufacture proteins which enhance foods’ sensory profiles. Helaina is going beyond sensory properties by combining advanced bioengineering and traditional yeast fermentation. Founder Laura Katz and her world-class scientific team are leveraging their proprietary fermentation platform to program yeast cells to become manufacturing hubs that develop proteins nearly identical to those found in human milk.
For its first product, Helaina will utilize its bioactive proteins to deliver the first humanized infant formula — a $50B market that is estimated to be worth $109B by 2027 — with the immune benefits found in breast milk for newborns. Helaina is building their technology as a platform to improve health outcomes in formula-fed infants and in the future, plans to expand the use of its proteins in a variety of consumer products.
Helaina is starting with human milk proteins that have demonstrated to be the foundation of immune health for babies. The company is producing a formula that not only will provide calories for babies, but also will help build immunity against fungal, bacterial and viral diseases for babies.
A Three Part Act to Commercial Scale
We see Helaina’s journey ahead as a multi-staged process as the company strives to be the infant formula of choice by pediatricians and parents with an eye towards creating an entirely new category of consumer immunology.
- Clinical Study. Helaina is already charting their way to approval and proceeding with toxicology testing and an infant growth study. All formulas marketed in the United States must meet federal nutrient requirements and infant formula manufacturers, and must be fed to infants in a clinical study for 15-weeks with growth monitoring.
- Fast track to market and customer loyalty. Helaina has secured manufacturing and supply chain partners to ensure the company can achieve cost parity with existing infant formula products. This is key as all families should be able to benefit from the advancements in food science, not just those that can afford premium products. Beyond cost parity, Helaina is hyper focused on being first to market and building customer loyalty. In navigating an increasingly competitive market, Helaina is focused on being a leading advocate for mothers and families in hopes of moving us into a new era where parents are not ashamed of feeding their baby formula. This matters for so many families that do not have the luxury of breastfeeding whether it’s nursing complications, medical or family considerations or work obligations.
- Protein platform expansion plan. With a range of human milk ingredients in their product pipeline, Helaina has plans to use its proteins to expand its offerings. As a protein platform, Helaina aims to utilize their proprietary technology and expand their product lines, to redefine food and nutrition, consumer immunology and wellness, and become a global brand consumers trust and choose.
Helaina presents an outsized opportunity to invest at the intersection of a unique innovation in a market ripe for disruption, especially one where customers are demanding a healthier solution. That is what we look for at Plum Alley Investments and why we are thrilled to invest in Helaina’s Series A. We believe Helaina truly has the potential to be a category defining consumer immunology company starting with babies. If Helaina is successful, it will position America as a leader in an area it has traditionally been so deficient in — the health and wellness of babies, parents and families. Not to mention, Helaina provides a better option for those who cannot breastfeed, including families that have used surrogates, adopted or fostered, or have experienced medical complications.
We are excited to support Helaina on the journey towards achieving their ambitious vision.
About Plum Alley Investments:
Plum Alley Investments is a venture firm investing in breakthrough technology and frontier healthcare with gender-diverse founding teams. Plum Alley has reached more than $50M in committed assets with investments across 26 portfolio companies. We focus on backing founders utilizing next-generation technology and creating a more equitable distribution of resources.
