NEW YORK – BioMed Technology has raised $2 million in an oversubscribed seed round, the Hong Kong-based microbiome startup said Thursday.
BioMed Technology will use the funds from investors Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, Gobi Partners, and The International Medical Co. to support R&D to advance microbiome-based health management and wellness solutions for consumers in mainland China and other parts of Asia.
The startup, founded in 2018, offers customers microbiome health management plans — including personalized probiotic products and dietary recommendations — based on microbiome DNA testing. The seed funds will allow BioMed Technology to expand its offerings based on a variety of microbiome data.
"We are moving from a focus on the gut microbiome to a wider perspective that includes skin and oral microbiome as possible therapeutic targets to prevent and manage certain health conditions such as allergies, functional gastrointestinal diseases, mood problems, and age-related metabolic abnormalities," Steven Loo, BioMed Technology's medical director and a dermatologist, said in a statement.
The company has partnerships with more than 100 healthcare service providers in Hong Kong and sells products directly to consumers under its PGut brand. As part of its plan to expand into mainland China, the company plans to open a laboratory in Shenzhen. Outside of China, BioMed Technology is shifting to a consumer-facing business in Thailand, beginning product development in Japan, and working to identify business partners in Malaysia and Singapore.
"Probiotics supplements are more than a fad," BioMed Technology CEO Vincent Tsang said in a statement. "We can't change the genes that influence the microbiome composition, but we can modify our microbiome by taking supplements or/and dietary modification."