MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BEFORE Brands™, Inc., a science-based consumer products company dedicated to bringing innovative, proprietary nutritional products directly to families, today announced that it has raised $35 million in private funding in a Series B financing round led by Gurnet Point Capital. In conjunction with the financing, two new directors will join the Board: Christopher Viehbacher, the Managing Partner of Gurnet Point Capital and former CEO of Sanofi S.A., along with Greg Horn, the CEO of Specialty Nutrition Group, Inc. and former CEO of both GNC Holdings, Inc. and Garden of Life.
BEFORE Brands products are founded on a growing body of evidence in support of nutritional strategies that include potentially allergenic foods as a regular part of a healthy diet. This round of funding will enable BEFORE Brands to launch its first line of proprietary dietary supplements including the novel Early Adaptive Training™ protein blend with Vitamin D later in 2017. These edible products are designed to be incorporated into the diet of healthy infants beginning around 6 months of age as part of solid food introduction, to give parents the confidence that their baby is accustomed to a wide variety of foods now and for the future, along with Vitamin D for immune support. In addition, the financing will be used to fund medical education on daily protein training strategies that include foods like peanut and egg as a consistent part of the diet beginning before age one. The products are based on insights and intellectual property developed by Dr. Kari Nadeau, pediatrician and Director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, and licensed to BEFORE Brands by Stanford University on an exclusive, global basis.
“This financing and the addition of Chris and Greg to our Board will provide both the capital needed to enable our first product rollout and expand the world-class expertise we can draw upon to commercialize this novel, important product line,” said Dr. Ashley Dombkowski, BEFORE Brands' co-founder and CEO. “We are excited that Gurnet Point Capital has increased its commitment to our mission by leading the Series B financing. The team’s healthcare expertise and global footprint have already proved instrumental to our momentum and we are confident they will continue to add significant value in our next stage of growth.”
“BEFORE Brands was founded to create an entirely new type of product based on clinical evidence and consumer appeal,” said Chris Viehbacher, Managing Partner of Gurnet Point Capital. “When we first invested, the company’s development priority was to deliver a product that would meet Dr. Nadeau’s exacting technical standards in terms of the specific Early Adaptive Training™ ingredient blend, protein quality, convenience, and safety. At the same time, they aspired to bring something to the market that would be differentiated, easy, accessible, and truly loved by babies and parents. The team has delivered on that mandate and with this financing, we are looking forward to the company introducing this new line to consumers later this year.”
About BEFORE Brands, Inc.
The immune system: part soldier, part sentinel. An essential balance, perfected by time but increasingly disrupted by modern living. BEFORE Brands™ is developing edible products to support this critical duality, beginning in healthy infants before problems arise. Our products use our proprietary Early Adaptive Training™ blend of whole food proteins & Vitamin D designed to help provide balanced, gentle & consistent immune system support right from the start. This technology was innovated by Dr. Kari Nadeau, a pediatrician, mother of five, and the Director of the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University. Our products build on a growing body of evidence in support of nutritional strategies that include potentially allergenic foods as a regular part of a healthy diet. At BEFORE Brands, We Nourish Possibilities™. For more information please visit www.beforebrands.com.
About Gurnet Point Capital
Gurnet Point Capital (GPC) is a unique health care fund founded by Ernesto Bertarelli and led by Christopher A. Viehbacher, who, together, have decades of expertise in an industry for which they share a passion, both as Chief Executives and as investors. With an initial allocation of $2 billion, GPC is investing long-term capital and supporting entrepreneurs in building a new generation of companies. Based in Cambridge, MA, its remit is global, encompassing life sciences and medical technologies. The fund invests across all stages of product development through to commercialisation and does so with an approach that is a hybrid of venture and private equity investing strategies. This approach is governed by a guiding tenet that even the earliest of technologies must present a clear commercial case, benefiting both patients and the healthcare system as a whole.