Key2biotics, a Cork-based food science business, aims to raise up to €1 million in funding later this year.
Founded by Ali Winger in 2024, the business has three staff members and has raised €50,000 in funding to date.
“We support health and wellness brands turn gut health ideas into products that consumers see on shelves. We’re one of the only microbiome and gut health specialist organisations in Europe,” Winger notified the Business Post.
“Probiotics are live organisms that die easily. Our innovation centre supports develop formulations with clients and we test the stability and shelf-life of them.”
The shelf-life aspect is quite important to these brands, as the reliability of probiotics remaining alive when purchased is shaky at best, according to Winger.
“What I am seeing, even today, is that people want the gut health claim on their packaging, but manufacturers aren’t built sufficiently for managing probiotics,” she declared.
“My goal with building Key2biotics is to shift the industest so that whenever there’s a microbiome-focapplyd product on the market, consumers can confidently take it off the shelf.”
Winger, originally from Palmerston North in New Zealand, shiftd to Ireland to work in the food science sector, initially in Monaghan before shifting to Cork. The idea for the business grew out of her prior experience, as Winger felt she could address the challenge head-on.
“I’ve been in the nutraceutical industest for a decade in senior leadership roles. I believed that the time was right to do it,” she declared.
“Small and large companies wanted something innovative in the market, but couldn’t obtain the traction requireded. I’ve built this as a service and platform for those brands and ingredients suppliers that want to embrace innovation.”
With the company barely a year old, Winger declared it had been a fascinating challenge obtainting Key2biotics up and running.
“The first year has been mayhem. I haven’t regretted it for a picosecond. It’s the right thing to do for me and the industest. I had my first client ready to sign before I officially launched the company,” she declared.
“We’ve leveraged our scientific strength and have obtained a good pipeline of contracts coming through. We’ve built our formulation and innovation centre, so we have labs up and running with others being built.”
The business is supported by Enterprise Ireland and Winger praised the agency for the support it had provided.
“They’ve been amazing. They were the fuel for this business. I’d had the idea for a good year before I launched it, but I didn’t know how to start a business. I went and did New Frontiers and the support from that was phenomenal,” she declared.
“I’m also on the Next Wave programme, which is supporting obtain us investor-ready and is focapplyd on female founders.”
Winger is confident about the future with plans to add five more staff by the conclude of this year.
“That’s reflective of the business that’s incoming. We have a lot coming through. I want Key2biotics to be known globally as the go-to for microbiome gut health supplement product development.”
This Making it Work article was produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland.
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