Infant nutrition firm ByHeart secures $90m in Series B funding

Baby nutrition company ByHeart has raised $90 million in Series B funding, as it prepares to launch its first formula.

Founded in 2016, ByHeart is a fully integrated baby nutrition company. The New York-based business claims to be the only new entrant to the US market to build its infant formula recipe entirely from scratch.

ByHeart says that breast milk research and nutrition science have outpaced innovation as new entrants to the infant formula market have used the same third-party manufacturer, rather than taking ownership of the end-to-end production process and running new clinical trials.

“Five years ago, we set out to build a company that would transform baby nutrition with products and resources grounded in breakthrough nutrition science and breast milk research,” said ByHeart co-founder, Ron Belldegrun.

“When we discovered that much of the industry was still relying on existing research as opposed to conducting new, more comprehensive clinical trials, we knew that true innovation would require starting from scratch and building entirely from the ground up.”

ByHeart’s new funding will support the impending launch of its first formula, and will also be used to advance the company’s innovation pipeline of mother and baby products.

The Series B milestone coincides with the successful completion of the brand’s multicentre clinical trial, a final step in submitting ByHeart’s new infant formula notification to the Food and Drug Administration and in bringing its formula to market.

The funding was led by D1 Capital Partners with participation from OCV Partners, Polaris Partners, Bellco Capital, Two River and Red Sea Ventures – all of which invested in ByHeart’s $70 million Series A round. New investors included AF Ventures and Gaingels.

“We are excited to increase our investment in ByHeart at this pivotal moment,” said Dan Sundheim, founder of D1 Capital Partners.

“We believe Ron, Mia and team have created a truly differentiated formula product that can deliver compelling benefits to babies.”