Founded in 2022 by former BCG manager Eleonora Cavani and Prof. Emeritus Willem M. de Vos, Alba Health is transforming child gut health with its advanced microbiome test and personalised nutrition program. Available in Europe and the UK, the platform combines research-grade analysis, AI-driven insights, and customised care to improve the wellbeing of children aged 0–12.

The new funding will fuel Alba Health’s commercial growth, further develop its digital tools, and accelerate its expansion into new clinical use cases. Since its launch six months ago, Alba Health has grown 30% month-on-month and over more than a third of its growth is attributed to word-of-mouth referrals. The platform has garnered interest from users globally, including parents, influencers and health enthusiasts.

The company’s origins are deeply personal. Co-Founder Eleonora Cavani, a molecular biologist with a background in pharmaceutical engineering, suffered from severe eczema and chronic pain in her 20s, which left her unable to work at full capacity and struggling with anxiety. Years of research and gut-focused lifestyle changes led to a complete resolution of her symptoms, an experience that ignited her mission to address childhood gut health before conditions like eczema and allergies take hold.

Studies show that over 50% of babies will experience gut symptoms, over 20% will have colic, and one-third of school-aged children have an allergic condition (source). Symptoms linked to the gut often lead to crying and sleep disruption, which are incredibly stressful for parents. At the same time, chronic diseases affect 40% of school-aged kids in the US.

“Managing chronic diseases with pharmaceuticals that mask symptoms is simply not good enough. People want to stay healthy and live as long as possible, and now everyone has unlimited knowledge at their fingertips. We at Alba help parents cut through the noise and learn everything they can do to give their kids the best start in life in a personalised way,” shares Cavani, who was awarded Female Founder of the Year at the Europas Awards in 2024 and has participated as one of the 22 speakers at Bryan Johnson’s very first Don't Die Summit in 2024.

“Gut microbiome and nutrition are crucial for people to stay healthy and to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. But for children, they are even more important: the wrong diet and a variety of gut disruptions during childhood can increase the risk of chronic diseases later in life. The thing that most people don’t know yet is that there is a window of time from 0 to 3 years old when gut health shapes health for life.” explains Cavani.

Alba Health’s platform includes:

• Gut health analysis – using research-grade metagenomics (DNA sequencing of microbial DNA), the test identifies bacterial imbalances linked to digestion, metabolism, immune system, and development
• Customised nutrition plans – parents receive dietary guidance, including probiotic suggestions and food recommendations
• 1:1 coaching – parents have the chance to speak to a certified Nutrition & Health Coach, helping them implement their plan
• Follow-up support – parents have the option to test with a follow-up test and receive expert guidance to ensure lasting gut health improvements

Backed by over 1600 scientific publications, Alba Health has also launched its own longitudinal PREVENT Study, tracking the microbiome development of over 300 Swedish families in partnership with leading universities. The company is the first of its kind to develop a proprietary data platform that connects gut health to hundreds of parent concerns, with over 300,000 data points.

Professor de Vos, a pioneer in microbiome science who previously co-founded the HELMi cohort at the University of Helsinki and now leads Alba Health’s clinical research efforts, says: “The studies I was involved in as well as those of others have shown that the gut microbiome in the first years of life can predict health later on, including risk of allergies or infections, weight development or excessive crying. In our PREVENT study, we have found that we can predict which children have constipation from their gut microbiome.”

The company was recently named one of three global winners at Probiota Pioneers 2025, an event showcasing innovation in microbiome and probiotics science.

“I have a strong belief that in the next five years, gut health has the potential to become the new sleep,” shares Petteri Lahtela, founder at Oura.

Thea Messel, General Partner at Unconventional Ventures, said: “Alba Health is bridging cutting-edge microbiome science with a massive unmet market need. Eleonora and Willem’s rare mix of lived experience, clinical insight, and execution is what made this an immediate yes for us.”

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