Nectar Secures $8M in Seed Funding to Revolutionize Allergy Care

CEO Dr. Kenneth Chahine teams up with venture funds Juxtapose and Obvious Ventures to build the nation's most personalized, accessible, and comprehensive allergy care platform.

NEW YORK, March 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nectar, an innovative and comprehensive allergy care platform, announced today their $8 million seed round led by Juxtapose and Obvious Ventures, who are co-building the company alongside Founder and CEO Kenneth Chahine, Ph.D.

Nectar will be the consumer-facing brand of Nectar Life Sciences, an allergy-focused healthcare holding company led by Dr. Chahine. The Nectar platform will leverage data and clinical research to offer personalized allergy care aimed at treating the root cause of allergies and providing long-lasting relief. Nectar's differentiated model will provide consumers with long-needed convenience, seamlessly flowing between virtual care and physical clinics for comprehensive allergy care targeting environmental, pet, and food allergies, eczema and asthma. Nectar's vertically integrated operations will power telehealth experiences and a licensed compounding pharmacy to create personalized, innovative, and proprietary treatments for consumers.

Allergies are one of the leading causes of chronic illness in the U.S., with over 120 million Americans suffering allergies and their comorbidities, like migraines and conjunctivitis, which sit at the root of $360 billion in healthcare opportunity. Only 35% of moderate and severe allergy sufferers say they're satisfied with their current treatment, which translates to an industry net promoter score of a staggering negative 65.

Dr. Chahine is one of the country's leading entrepreneurial operators at the intersection of science and healthcare and is co-founding Nectar with unmatched experience transforming cutting-edge science into consumer solutions. In addition to being a two-time CEO in the healthcare space, and an experienced scientist, Dr. Chahine was a founder of AncestryDNA and former EVP of Ancestry.com, a product that has been used by nearly 10% of the U.S. population. He also founded AncestryHealth, a telehealth genetic test for predisposition to conditions such as breast and colon cancer. Collectively, he brings a unique depth of experience around e-commerce, data-driven science, healthtech product development, and AI in consumer-facing contexts.

"Allergies are a massive and growing chronic condition across the world, and it can be a debilitating pain point in people's daily lives, with over 90% of sufferers stating that they have stayed home from school, work, the outdoors, or a social event because of allergies. Our mission is to turn data and clinical research into personalized, accessible, and comprehensive allergy care," said Dr. Chahine. "We are very excited to reinvent the allergy industry and introduce our direct-to-consumer platform."

Dr. Chahine teamed up with Juxtapose, a New York-based venture fund that builds companies from the ground up, and Obvious Ventures, a San Francisco-based early-stage venture fund, to co-found the company. The $8 million seed funding will be used to continue developing proprietary and personalized allergy solutions ahead of the nationwide launch of Nectar in the coming months.

"We are thrilled to partner with Ken on this new venture and to be a part of creating something truly transformative in a massive, and largely unsolved, corner of health sciences," said Patrick Chun, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Juxtapose. "Building long-term relationships with the world's best entrepreneurs has always been central to our approach, and Ken is a prime example of the type of transformative leader we're grateful to partner with."

Juxtapose is the largest inception-stage venture fund building businesses at the juncture of healthcare and technology, most recently co-founding Tend, Orchard, and Care/of. The principals at Juxtapose have collectively launched over 20 technology-enabled healthcare businesses from scratch. Obvious Ventures invests in purpose-driven startups solving systemic challenges across trillion-dollar industries like food, healthcare, energy, and mobility.

"The combination of Ken's singular background in bringing to life delightful experiences in complex scientific areas, Juxtapose's healthcare building track record, and Obvious Ventures' investing experience in deep science and consumer health is representative of the ambition of Nectar," continued Mr. Chun.

"More consumers suffer from allergies than chronic diseases like diabetes. We are thrilled to be part of the Nectar mission to improve human health for millions," said James Joaquin, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Obvious. "Ken's vision for building a science-backed, trusted brand in allergy solutions will reshape the way consumers think about their personal health."

Learn more at nectarlifesciences.com.  

About Nectar Life Sciences
Nectar is building a comprehensive, vertically integrated allergy healthcare platform that leverages data and clinical research to offer a personalized, patient-centric approach to allergy care. Led by founder and CEO Kenneth Chahine, Nectar is the first direct-to-consumer launch brand to be developed from Nectar Life Sciences.

About Juxtapose
Founded by Patrick Chun and Jed Cairo in 2015, Juxtapose is an inception-stage investment firm that is exclusively focused on building industry-transforming businesses from the ground up. The fund has supported the creation and financing of technology companies such as Care/of, Tend, Orchard, Great Jones, DayForward, and Modern Age. Juxtapose partners with the world's most experienced and talented entrepreneurial operators to found and scale category-defining technology companies that are set up to win in the industries in which they operate. Read more at juxtapose.com.

About Obvious Ventures
Obvious Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in startups and entrepreneurs reimagining trillion-dollar industries through a world-positive lens. Since launching in 2014, Obvious has backed over 90 companies using technology to create a smarter, healthier, more sustainable world. The fund has led investments in breakthrough companies such as Beyond Meat, Olly, Virta Health, and Recursion. Obvious was co-founded by Ev Williams, James Joaquin, and Vishal Vasishth. More information is available at obvious.com.  

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SOURCE Nectar