Following successful validation, the AI-driven bioactive discovery company announces $3.6 million round to scale next-gen food-as-medicine metabolic health solutions

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 11, 2025 — Lembas, a company utilizing AI to discover bioactive peptides, has unveiled its operations after making a significant scientific advancement in activating GLP-1, a crucial hormone for regulating appetite and metabolism. The company has successfully completed an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round, securing $3.6 million. The round was spearheaded by FLORA Ventures, who also acted as an incubator for the company, and included investments from venture capital firms such as Bluestein Ventures, Fresh Fund, Longevity Venture Partners, Maia Ventures, Siddhi Capital, Mandi Ventures, and SDH.

 

 

Nearly 75% of adults in the United States are either overweight or obese*. However, many individuals cannot access the new GLP-1 pharmaceuticals due to limited availability, high costs, and significant side effects. This situation presents a considerable opportunity for the food and supplement industries to offer evidence-based solutions that enable consumers to manage their weight more naturally and effectively.

Lembas is at the forefront of developing the next wave of science-backed bioactive ingredients for the functional food and supplement sector. Their initial offering, GLP-1 Edge, is targeted at the $560B** global weight management market. GLP-1 Edge is formulated to naturally control appetite by boosting the body’s inherent GLP-1 response. It can be easily incorporated into various products like bars, shakes, snacks, beverages, and supplements, making metabolic health a part of consumers’ daily lives.

The company’s exclusive AI computational discovery platform quickly evaluates, analyzes, and creates food-grade bioactive peptides that interact with the body’s natural metabolic processes. Within a year, Lembas successfully identified and engineered food-grade bioactives that showed encouraging results in cell and animal models, effectively stimulating GLP-1 secretion into the bloodstream.

While Lembas is initially concentrating on natural GLP-1 for weight management and metabolic health, their computational platform is designed to accelerate the identification of innovative, science-supported functional ingredients for a wider range of health and wellness benefits.

Lembas, established in 2024, is supported by a university-licensed patent-pending technology and is managed by a skilled team of experienced entrepreneurs and scientists from diverse fields: Shay Hilel (CEO), Dr. Zohar Barbash (CTO), Prof. Maayan Gal (CSO), and Dr. Daniel Bar. The executive team and board include seasoned senior leaders from companies like PepsiCo, Mondelez, IFF, Shiru, and Brightseed, including Rob Hargrove, formerly Chief R&D Officer at Mondelez.

“At Lembas, we are establishing a new category of nutrition supported by scientific evidence, empowering consumers to manage their weight effectively and conveniently through everyday food and supplements, without the need for expensive prescriptions, injections, or unpleasant side effects,” stated Shay Hilel, Co-Founder and CEO of Lembas. “Our early validation and the considerable interest from global food and supplement companies demonstrate a significant unmet need for our GLP-1 Edge solution, which works in harmony with the body.”

Gil Horsky, Founding Chairman of Lembas and Managing Partner at FLORA Ventures, commented: “Having worked in the food industry and invested in this area for many years, I believe the discovery of GLP-1 is the most significant game-changer the food industry has encountered in decades. Lembas is the pioneering science-driven company that is enabling food industry players to capitalize on this disruptive opportunity, setting a new standard for food as medicine.” Horsky added: “We are combining advanced technology with cutting-edge science to create a scalable and credible pathway to ensure functional food is truly functional.”

With the newly acquired funding, Lembas plans to expedite the scaling and commercialization of its GLP-1 Edge bioactive, enhance its AI discovery platform, and expand its commercial agreements throughout the ingredients, food, and supplements supply chain.

About Lembas

Lembas is an AI-driven discovery company pioneering the next generation of science-backed bioactives for the functional food and supplements industry, with its first solution, GLP-1 Edge, targeting the $560B global weight management industry. Backed by university-patented research and a proprietary AI computational platform, Lembas is building a scalable pipeline of food-grade bioactive ingredients that unlock the potential of food as medicine. For more information, please visit , .

Sources

*Agrawal, N. Three-Quarters of U.S. Adults Are Now Overweight or Obese. The New York Times. November 14, 2024. .
**IMARC Group .

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