French startup Numi raises €3 million for cultivated breast milk

In France, cultivated breast milk startup Numi has raised €3 million in seed funding—funds co-founder Eden Banon-Lagrange tells Tech.EU will be used for recruitment and to accelerate R&D. 

The company, which was once called MUMilk, is using cell culture technologies to replace natural breast milk for the many situations in which breastfeeding isn’t possible or enough. Numi achieves this by isolating, culturing, and growing human breast cells in a lab.

Heartcore Capital, HCVC, Financière Saint James Kima Ventures, and Kost Capital participated in the funding round. Numi plans to submit regulatory approval to the US market first, given the complexity of Europe’s novel food filing process.

Tech.EU notes that several other companies are pursuing cultivated breast milk, include US startups Helaina and BioMilq and Singapore’s TurtleTree.