Bactolife secures €30m Series B to commercialise gut health ingredient
Danish company has US launch planned for 2026 and focus on women and children
Danish company Bactolife has raised more than €30 million in a Series B funding round to take its gut health technology from development into commercial markets. The financing will support the commercialisation of the company’s binding protein ingredients and the execution of its human study programme, as Bactolife prepares for a US launch in 2026.
The round was led by Cross Border Impact Ventures (CBIV) and the Danish Export and Investment Fund (EIFO), with continued participation from existing investors Novo Holdings and family office Athos. The Gates Foundation is also a cornerstone backer.
Copenhagen-based Bactolife expects to launch its first binding protein products for human health in the US under its ingredient brand, Helm™, before expanding into Europe and Asia in the years that follow. Alongside commercial growth, the company says it has a long-term commitment to making its technology accessible to women and children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Sebastian Søderberg, CEO of Bactolife, said:
“This funding will enable us to clinically validate, scale, and commercialize our Binding Proteins, taking Bactolife’s solutions to a broad audience.
“We are excited to welcome new investors to the Bactolife family and are deeply grateful to our existing investors, whose continued support reflects their confidence in our mission. We are ready to transform gut health with novel Binding Proteins.”
Gut health meets scale and equity
Gut health is a crowded category in nutrition, but much of the market remains dominated by consumer supplements aimed at high-income users. For women and children - particularly in LMICs - poor gut health is closely linked to malnutrition, impaired immunity and long-term health outcomes, yet scalable and affordable interventions are limited.
Bactolife is positioning itself as something different. Rather than building a consumer-facing supplement brand, it is developing an ingredient platform designed to be embedded into everyday products, from functional foods and beverages to dietary supplements and animal feed.
That ingredient-first approach is central to the company’s ambition to reach both premium markets and underserved populations.
Proceeds from the round will be used to fund human studies across the US, Europe, Asia and LMICs, as well as to scale manufacturing and supply operations.
The science
At the core of Bactolife’s technology are binding proteins - milk-inspired functional proteins originally discovered in camelid immunoglobulins and produced at scale using precision fermentation.
In simple terms, these proteins are designed to bind to and neutralise unwanted compounds in the gut, helping to support intestinal resilience. They do not aim to replace probiotics or radically alter the microbiome. Instead, they work alongside existing diets, making them easier to integrate into different foods and formats.
Because binding proteins are ingredients rather than finished products, they can be used in many applications. That flexibility allows for Bactolife’s commercial strategy and its plans to reach women and children through everyday nutrition, not just supplements. Bactolife plans to support applications across dietary supplements, functional foods and beverages, and animal nutrition—an approach that could help support lower-cost access in resource-constrained settings.
Investors aligned on women and children’s health
The Series B was led by Cross Border Impact Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on women’s and children’s health technologies. CBIV closed its first fund at $90 million in 2023 and is currently raising a $125 million Fund II. The Bactolife investment marks the firm’s final deployment from Fund I.
“Bactolife’s Binding Proteins have the potential to strengthen gut resilience for mothers and children in low- and middle-income countries by providing a scalable, food-grade solution that can be integrated into everyday nutrition. At the same time, we are excited about the significant growth opportunity across North America, Europe, and Asia where the market opportunity is massive.
“This investment reflects our conviction that evidence-based technologies can reach massive high-growth markets, inclusive of people who need them most, and we look forward to partnering with Bactolife to accelerate clinical validation, scale manufacturing, and expand equitable access globally.”
EIFO’s managing director Sara Sande described Bactolife as an example of Danish biosolutions research being translated into global impact, while Novo Holdings highlighted the company’s progress towards commercialisation as aligned with its planetary health strategy.