The round was co-led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Horizons Ventures, the venture division of the Li Ka Shing Foundation, joined by new investors Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., Arla Foods, and Continental Grain Company, and existing investors Tate & Lyle Ventures, Alta Ventures, Spruce Ventures, Acre Ventures and Bow Capital.
The company intends to use the funds to expand the availability of its flagship infant probiotic product, Evivo®, in the US and worldwide, develop new products for different age segments beyond infants, and accelerate efforts to bring to market the microbiome diagnostic test.
A spin-out from the Foods for Health Institute (FFHI) at the University of California, Davis and led by Tim Brown, CEO, Evolve Biosystems develops products to establish, restore, and maintain a healthy gut microbiome. Its infant probiotic product Evivo is an activated form of the beneficial bacteria Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantisEVC001).
Evolve and the Gates Foundation will further expand their partnership, announced in April, to investigate how Evivo can help infants suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) through the restoration of the gut microbiome. Through this investment, the Gates Foundation will work with Evolve to help further develop and evaluate its Evivo product and help determine the role of B. infantis – in combination with breastfeeding – in supporting the healthy growth and development of infants as well as preventing infection in developing countries.
FinSMEs
13/06/2018