A startup developing a medical food to treat a sub-set of migraines has just raised $4 million in seed funding.
Basel-based KetoSwiss was founded by Dr Elena Gross, who suffered from chronic migraines herself, having struggled to find a suitable treatment. She started the company after she completed a PhD in neurology.
KetoSwiss has taken a novel approach to treat metabolic migraines, which Gross has theorized as being the result of metabolic abnormalities in the body.
“Our theory is that a migraine is a warning sign that there’s an energy deficit in the body,” Gross told Insider.
Unlike aspirins or painkillers, which only block the pain messages that are released to the brain, KetoSwiss aims to prevent the root cause of migraines using brain energetics and sustaining the energy supply in the brain.
The startup has developed a product called MigraKet which sustains this energy supply to the brain, and it is classified as a medical food for migraines that is composed of safe compounds. It’s a product that requires ‘self-affirmed’ approval, as opposed to FDA-approval, to enter the market.
KetoSwiss has only had to conduct phase 2A trials focused on dosage and safety before preparing to launch it in the US market. It still needs to keep a log of its clinical data, which has been analyzed by consultants, to show the viability of its product.
Once the startup leaves the clinical trial stage, it will prepare to sell its product in the US on a direct-to-consumer basis, via channels like Amazon.
Having found itself nestled between the biotech and consumer categories, it was difficult to find an investor that had an understanding of the crossover elements of the two sectors, Gross told Insider.
Coupled with this, women are two to three times more likely to suffer from migraines than men — and Gross found this to be a difficult selling point when pitching the product to predominantly male VCs.
“I was trying to explain to middle-aged male investors and trying to explain that we need more than just aspirin,” she said. “It was a bit harder to communicate to someone who’s never experienced it.”
The seed round was led by The William K. Warren Foundation, which supports initiatives in neuropsychiatric disorders, with additional backers including two US VC firms that focus on longevity in biotech — R42, and Healthspan Capital, among other investors and business angels. This brings the startup’s total funding to around $6 million.
With the cash injection, KetoSwiss will focus on launching in the US market, but it’s also eyeing an EU market launch in the future, and expanding its team and product development. Down the line, KetoSwiss will also look at expanding its services to mental health treatments.
Check out the 17-slide deck used to raise the fresh funds.
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