BoobyBiome, a female-founded deep tech startup spun out of University College London’s Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, has secured £2.5 million in seed funding to address a critical but often overlooked challenge in infant nutrition: preserving the beneficial microbiome in expressed breast milk and supplementing formula-fed babies with key bacterial strains.
The £2.5 million seed round was led by specialist deep tech investor Empirical Ventures, with backing from The Helm, XFactor Ventures, Lavender Ventures, Kayan Ventures, Evenlode Investment, and angel investors including Dominic Hollamby and Lord Ara Darzi.
The company’s research revealed that beneficial bacteria, essential for infant immune development, begin to perish within 20 minutes of exposure to oxygen after breast milk is expressed. This insight drove the development of a patented storage device that mimics the low-oxygen conditions of the breast, preserving not only the live microbiome but also vital antioxidants and vitamins. These elements are crucial in protecting infants against common early-life conditions such as asthma, food allergies, type 1 diabetes, and obesity.
Dr Ben Miles, General Partner at Empirical Ventures, added, “We’re proud to support the brilliant team at BoobyBiome as they advance their research and bring their groundbreaking technology to market. Lydia, Sioned, and Tara’s combined expertise makes them exceptionally well placed to transform infant health, addressing a critical gap that has been overlooked for too long.”
Founded in 2019 by microbiologists Dr Lydia Mapstone (CEO), Dr Sioned Jones (COO), and Dr Tara O’Driscoll (CTO), BoobyBiome builds on five years of rigorous microbiome research. Their technology leverages the world’s largest high-resolution breast milk microbiome database along with a biobank of proprietary bacterial strains.
Together, these underpin two complementary innovations: an oxygen-excluding storage device compatible with any infant bottle, and a live microbiome drop designed to supplement formula, as well as feeding for C-section and preterm infants whose microbiomes may be underdeveloped.
BoobyBiome plans to launch its storage device directly to consumers in the UK in 2026, with subsequent expansion to European and US markets. Concurrently, clinical trials are underway to validate the safety and efficacy of their live microbiome drop. The latest funding will accelerate the company’s global commercial scaling, support partnerships with infant bottle manufacturers, and further its scientific research.
