A French start-up raises 3 million euros to produce breast milk in vitro

2023-11-08 19:05:00

Recreating breast milk from cell cultures is the objective of the French start-up Nūmi. Specializing in biotechnologies, the company managed to raise some three million euros for its first fundraising.

Although the WHO recommends breastfeeding exclusively until the infant is six months old, only 56% of babies have this chance. Many mothers are unable to breastfeed, or do not want to, and are looking for another solution. This is where infant milk produced from cow’s milk comes into play, which sometimes causes problems due to intolerance…

It is to meet this need that Eden Banon-Lagrange and Eugénie Pezé-Heidsieck, doctor in molecular biology, co-founded Nūmi. “We recreate lactation in vitro to get closer to the benefits of breast milk,” explains Ms. Banon-Lagrange, before specifying that this process consists of “isolating breast cells, culturing them in a controlled environment, giving them nutrients to enable them to develop and proliferate.

Thanks to this first fundraising, the start-up announces having raised three million euros from investment companies Heartcore Capital, HCVC, Financière Saint-James, Kima Ventures and Kost Capital. This money should allow them to “recruit a team of scientists” to accelerate the research and development phase.

Created in 2022 in Suresnes (Paris region), Nūmi currently employs four people, and is targeting around fifteen employees by the end of next year. In the longer term, the company aims to enter the American market which has “taken a lead with a clear regulatory framework” in this area, before launching in Asia and Europe.