UK: Personalised nutrition tech start-up eyes Seed funding to progress product development

  • 15 December 2021
Tumchi to produce digital nutrition plans for users using their blood-work and microbiome data
Daria Sopelkina started tumchi in 2019 with the goal to digitise nutrition and a balanced diet

Personalised nutrition platform tumchi is looking for VC support via a Seed round to support the development of its app and proprietary technology. 

The start-up’s technology will use machine learning to process users’ blood-work and microbiome data to produce customised nutrition recommendations that will focus on improving overall health. 

CEO and founder Daria Sopelkina said several investors had expressed interest in the company.

She did not disclose the size of the round but noted the final amount would be confirmed once it launched in early 2022.

“We really are ready to accelerate the business rapidly and we are working hard to develop the consumer-facing technology,” Sopelkina told NutritionInvestor. 

Tumchi’s aim is to digitise a balanced diet and help progress the science of gut health through the data collected via tumchi. 

The start-up is currently beta-testing its platform using the data provided by early users. It expects to launch the final product next year with the help of the capital raised in its Seed round. 

“The technology requires more time for development and more investment. The product will be user-friendly and easy to understand, and we are looking at how we can include gamification elements,” Sopelkina said. 

The company formed part of 2021 cohort of the P4 Precision Medicine Accelerator, which provides support to precision medicine through development, regulation, investment, adoption and scale.

Tumchi was also recently awarded two grants from Santander Universities and joined the Cambridge Judge Business School accelerator.

It has already established a number of partnerships with clinicians and third-party labs to utilise the data collected by the platform and contribute to wider research into the gut microbiome.

“We see huge potential for bigger collaborations with pharmaceutical and foodtech companies thanks to the value of our data. We’re a biotech company, but with a consumer-friendly positioning,” Sopelkina added.