Helaina

Helaina is a company in New York, United States, founded in 2019 on the premise that nutrition could be smarter, beginning its work to recreate the most functional proteins for human health, starting with lactoferrin. Its founder, Laura Katz, a food scientist, was inspired by a podcast about the black market for breast milk and the lengths people go to access bioactive proteins found in human milk. Helaina's first breakthrough is effera®, described as a bio-identical lactoferrin. The company reports that effera® is absorbed up to 4x more efficiently than the bovine version and that clinical studies confirm the body's immune system recognizes it as self. Helaina has partnered with Nestlé to advance science-based early-life nutrition.

Helaina was founded in 2019 on the premise that nutrition could be smarter, beginning its work to recreate the most functional proteins for human health, starting with lactoferrin. The spark came from a podcast about the black market for breast milk; founder Laura Katz realized that everyone from athletes to new parents were going to extraordinary lengths to access the powerful bioactive proteins found in human milk. In 2021, with a $20M Series A, Helaina accelerated its research, building out its proprietary tech stack and proving its ability to produce human proteins outside the body. In 2024, a $45M Series B fueled its transition from an R&D company to a commercial enterprise, preparing to bring its innovation to a global market. In 2025, Helaina achieved metric-ton scale manufacturing of effera®, launching in multiple consumer products. Its first breakthrough is effera®, a bio-identical lactoferrin. Nestlé and Helaina have partnered to advance science-based early-life nutrition.

Bio-identical human lactoferrin produced via precision fermentation, positioned as functionally equivalent to the protein the body already knows.

• effera®

  A bio-identical lactoferrin, described as the first proof point of a new era in nutrition.

1. 1Helaina | Bio-Identical Human Lactoferrinmyhelaina.com
2. 2About Helaina | Reinventing Human-Milk Proteinsmyhelaina.com
3. 3Helaina (United States)wikidata.org