Consumer Health Tech Company AHARA Announces $10M+ Seed Round and Beta Launch

The personalized nutrition company is co-founded by serial tech entrepreneur Julie Wainwright and board-certified physician nutrition specialist Dr. Melina Jampolis

LOS ANGELES, June 6, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AHARA, the only food-first personalized nutrition solution that translates clinically validated science into practical nutrition recommendations for optimal health, announces its beta launch with $10.25M in funding led by Greycroft with participation from Headline, SHAKTI, Dr. Samuel Jampolis, Co-founder Wainwright, and Sandy Sholl.

AHARA, a Sanskrit word referring to nourishment, was conceived by well-known physician nutritionist Dr. Melina Jampolis and serial tech entrepreneur Julie Wainwright. The co-founders bring deep experience in medicine and consumer technology and are now at the forefront of the rapidly evolving field of precision nutrition and health tech.

AHARA leverages the power of multiple data inputs from a scientifically developed health questionnaire, as well as genetic, epigenetic and biomarker testing. It then combines that data using a patent-pending, AI-enabled algorithm.  The output identifies an individual's key nutrients and provides ultra-personalized nutrition recommendations and a practical and actionable way to get them.

AHARA is clinically validated by 300+ scientific studies and backed by an advisory board made up of industry-leading doctors, clinicians and nutrition professionals including: 
Kathie M. Swift, MS RDN LDN FAND EBQ, Co-Founder, Integrative & Functional Nutrition Academy 
Martin Kohlmeier, MD PhD, Professor and Director, Nutrigenetics Laboratory, University of North Carolina
Ahmed El-Sohemy PhD, Founder & Chief Science Officer at Nutrigenomix;
Taylor C. Wallace, PhD CFS FACN, CEO, Think Healthy Group, Adjunct Professor, George Mason University
Michael Dasinger, MD, Founder, Diabetes Reversal Program at Tufts Medical Center and Assistant Professor at Tufts School of Medicine. CDC & WebMD Nutrition Expert.
Shumone Ray, MD, UK Licensed MD & Public Health Nutritionist Chair, chief scientist & ED of NNEdPro Global Institute for Food, Nutrition & Health

AHARA's key features include:

• An individual's health data collected from a proprietary, scientifically based questionnaire and at-home tests for genetic, epigenetic, and biomarkers.
• Custom health focus options including heart, gut, brain, metabolic, aging, or immune; a performance option will follow in 2024.
• Personalized nutrition plans featuring nutrient-specific meals, recipes, shopping lists, and dining-out menu-scan to ensure an individual gets the right nutrients whenever and wherever they eat.
• Results and measurable improvement tracking through quarterly and annual retesting, and reduction of symptoms.
• AI features maximize learnings from app engagement and data tracking to better understand users' unique eating patterns.
• 1:1 support from nutrition experts for Premium level members.

Julie Wainwright, Co-founder and CEO, is a serial entrepreneur who founded The RealReal and developed a new fashion category from concept to approximately $1.5B in GMV. Most recently, she was awarded Forbes 50 over 50, Fast Company's Most Creative People In Business, among many other notable recognitions. 

Wainwright states, "As a patient of Dr. Melina, I experienced first-hand the positive impact of her approach to optimal health when she combined my genetics, health survey and biomarker tests resulting in a personalized food and supplement recommendation for my specific key nutrients. It quickly became clear to me that technology could make personalized nutrition available to all.  I approached Dr. Melina with the idea for a health tech business that would reach millions, and she quickly understood that together we could help everyone achieve optimal health."

Dr. Melina Jampolis, Co-founder and Chief Medical Officer is an internist and board-certified physician nutrition specialist (one of only several hundred in the U.S.), a bestselling author, and frequent media contributor. She is the former president of the National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists and remains on their Board of Directors.

Dr. Melina shares, "I co-founded AHARA with Julie to make evidence-based, personalized nutrition accessible to everyone. The opportunity to contribute to nutrition science with our science-based, AI-supported approach was too important to pass up."

About AHARA 
AHARA provides personalized nutrition for optimal health and longevity. Leveraging the latest scientific, evidence-based research, combined with users' personal data, its proprietary algorithm provides personalized recommendations for food and supplements. The venture-backed, female-founded consumer health tech company is the brainchild of physician nutrition specialist Dr. Melina Jampolis and serial tech entrepreneur Julie Wainwright. www.ahara.com

Media and public relations contacts:
Andrea McKinnon 
AMcK PR, Inc. 
[email protected] 
8184159442

AHARA 
Nancy Alonzo
VP, Brand & Communications 
[email protected]

SOURCE Ahara