Nutritional Enzyme Maker Secures $10M Early-Stage Financing

Alcresta, in Newton, Massachusetts, has closed a $10 million series A financing round, the first funding installment after start-up. Investors are led by the venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Frazier Healthcare, and Third Rock Ventures.

The company develops and commercializes enzyme-based nutritional products designed to improve the health of and manage disease for infants, older adults, and patients suffering acute or chronic conditions. Alcresta has developed a technology to improve the delivery, digestion, and absorption of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, including omega-3 and omega-6. These fatty acids are considered necessary for human health but the body does not make them naturally, and thus needs to get them through food. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are believed to play an important role in cardiovascular and brain functions, as well as normal growth and development.

“Despite recent advances in supplemented nutritional products, some individuals have specialized needs that cannot be met by food alone,” says Alexey Margolin, Alcresta’s founder and CEO. “In these situations the use of enzymes is critically important.” The company estimates the global market for improved patient nutrition at $33 billion. Proceeds from the financing are expected to support Alcresta’s discovery and development of a range of enzyme-based nutritional products and medical devices.

Alcresta’s management team of Margolin, chief operating officer Robert Gallotto, and technical operations V.P. Hugh Wight are the same as the biotech company Allena Pharmaceuticals, also in Newton. While the two companies are legally independent, they share resources and expect to develop synergies in their operational experiences. Allena launched in November 2011 and is supported by $15 million in series A financing.

Read more: Process Developed for More Nutritional Supplement Stability

Hat tip: Term Sheet/Fortune

Photo: borman818/Flickr

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