Irish start-up FoodMarble raises €2.1m to grow digestive health business

Irish start-up FoodMarble has raised $2.6 million (€2.1 million) in funding to grow its at-home digestive health solution and move into new markets.

The seed investment will be used to support FoodMarble’s expansion into new markets, research and development projects, and product development.

The seed investment round was led by new investor Business Venture Partners (BVP), with SOSV, Breed Reply, Delta Partners and Enterprise Ireland also participating.

FoodMarble has developed a digestive breath analyser, FoodMarble Aire, that can help people control food intolerances by identifying specific foods that could be triggering symptoms of conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The bespoke breath analysis can be accessed via a smartphone app.

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Co-founder and chief executive Aonghus Shortt developed the product due to his fiancée Grace’s experience with IBS.

Mr Shortt said the company planned to increase its activity in the US, raising awareness of the device and what it can do, with the seed investment supporting that.

“The main focus is the US. We’ve been selling globally since the beginning, but our sales have predominantly been in the US, UK, Australia New Zealand, Canada,” Mr Shortt said. The company has a deal with retailer Best Buy in Canada to sell the device.

According to FoodMarble, around one in eight people around the globe are affected by digestive issues. That includes IBS and and food intolerances to common food items and ingredients such as lactose, wheat, fructose and others.

Clinical breath analysis tests can be carried out to diagnose these issues, but are typically hospital based with expensive equipment, and may not always capture how the patient reacts to certain foods.

The Aire device is personal, portable and can provide immediate results to the user, with real-time, accurate data.

“Covid has shaken up healthcare. Where previously some of these newer technologies weren’t really getting through in healthcare, now we’ve been forced to rethink how do doctors get to patients and how do they provide the technology that people need,” Mr Shortt said.

FoodMarble has also turned to crowdfunding to raise more money, using the Seedrs platform, to further fund its development. That offered a chance for the company to solidify the community, he added.

Mr Shortt said the company was just getting started, and wanted Aire be a tool that every family can have in the home to monitor and manage their digestive health.

“Healthcare systems today are not suited to helping people with these common but incredibly challenging gut health issues. Digestive symptoms can be profoundly disruptive to normal life, and we’re seeking to end that,” he said.