BIOHM, a microbiome company guided by Dr. Mahmoud Ghannoum, announced it raised a $7.5 million equity financing. The oversubscribed round was led by Middleland Capital's VTC Ventures with additional investment from Felton Group, LLC, Jobs Ohio Growth Capital Fund, Aztec Capital Management LLC, Cleveland Life Science Advisors, Valley Growth Ventures, LLC, JumpStart-UH (Healthcare Collaboration Fund) and other investors. The raise will enable BIOHM's continued leadership as a data-driven, cutting-edge microbiome innovation partner for consumers, medical practitioners, and food, beverage and dietary supplement companies.
"We are in a unique position to seamlessly link emerging research with microbiome-powered products and formulations," adds Sam Schatz, President of BIOHM. "This raise will allow us to further develop our A.I. technologies, removing the guess work in our targeted formulation process. We are excited about what we will be able to achieve with this investment."
With state-of-the-art science and one of the largest microbiome datasets in the world that combines bacterial and fungal sequencing, BIOHM was the first to address the critical link between fungi and bacteria in gut health. Over the last year, BIOHM has expanded its role with some of the largest global ingredient companies to offer a world-class suite of services, including product development leveraging its industry-leading database, bioinformatics, testing and clinical trial support. Additionally, BIOHM is currently embarking on a clinical extension directly for medical practitioners and is quickly expanding into retailers across the country.
"There is overwhelming research that demonstrates the fundamental importance of the microbiome in general human health," says Brian Mixer, Managing Director with Middleland Capital. "BIOHM has a proven track record of applying innovative science to identify microbial (fungal and bacterial) imbalance within the gut and translating these discoveries into meaningful products and ingredients. We are excited to partner with BIOHM's management team as they accelerate development and bring new science-backed products to market."
"While we are pushing the category in microbiome research and applied science, this raise allows us to level up to a new stratum of technology which equates to a significant 'needle move' on microbiome optimization," noted BIOHM CEO, Afif Ghannoum. "As we well know now, gut health is at the center of wellness. We are thrilled about the broad scale impact this raise could have on personalized health."
BIOHM not only manages one of the most comprehensive gut health datasets, it also has access to one of the largest collections of fungi strains, second only to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
BIOHM's co-founder, Dr. Ghannoum, is a leading microbiome researcher and recognized for naming the mycobiome (the body's fungal community). He is one of the top 0.5% of cited microbiologists – and top 2% of all scientists across all disciplines – with over 500 papers and work that has been cited over 30,000 times. Dr. Ghannoum has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since 1991, including just receiving his latest NIH grant at age 72.
