East Ventures Leads Investment in Microbiome Startup from Singapore AMILI

East Ventures is leading investment to AMILI, a startup from Singapore that claims to be the first and only gut microbiome precision medicine in Southeast Asia. No mention of the nominal funding provided.

In its official statement, this investment is said to strengthen AMILI's capital after securing series A funding in June 2022. The plan is for AMILI to expand its business operations to Indonesia with the main focus on dealing with intestinal health problems adapted to Indonesian market conditions.

AMILI was founded in 2019 by Dr. Jeremy Lim (CEO), Drs. David Ong, and Jonathan Lee. The three of them were noted to have led the gut microbiome transplant at the National University Hospital in 2014 as well as the first in the Southeast Asian region.

"This funding enables doctors and other health professionals to bring benefits to patients through the microbiome. In addition to medicines, the microbiome plays an important role in food and agricultural technology. We hope to bring innovation to this sector, especially contributing to the creation of foods that support health as well as overcoming stunting and malnutrition," said AMILI Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Jeremy Lim.

Co-Founder and Managing Partner of East Ventures Willson Cuaca also added that this investment could advance precision medicine as well as health and nutrition by harnessing the potential of the gut microbiome. "By conducting local studies and understanding the intricacies of the Asian gut microbiome, we can discover insights and develop health interventions tailored to the needs and challenges of Asian populations."

This is because people in Asia have unique characteristics of the gut microbiome which is strongly influenced by local and regional factors, such as diet, lifestyle and environment. Therefore, it is important for research, discovery and application to be carried out locally in this region.

Previously, East Ventures also invested in Nusantics since 2020, a startup from Indonesia that is encouraging microbiome research. Nusantics is currently referred to as the first and only genome technology development startup in Indonesia.

Get to know AMILI and the microbiome

With the latest scientific developments and discoveries, the gut microbiome is believed to be the next frontier of human health. Additionally, the use of the gut microbiome enables personalized health care.

The gut microbiome is known to consist of trillions of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live in the digestive tract and play a key role in nearly every aspect of human health, including digestion, immune function, mental health, and disease prevention.

Currently, AMILI offers services sequencing gut microbiome to help healthcare professionals improve patient treatment and probiotic formulations designed specifically for Asian consumers.

There are three core assets owned by AMILI, namely the Asian multi-ethnic microbiome database, a microbiome bank with samples stored for metagenomic and metabolomic analysis, as well as the analysis toolset, informatics network, and AMILI PRIME search engine. These assets enable AMILI to drive gut health research and innovative solutions.

AMILI calls itself the only microbiome transplant bank in Southeast Asia. Last year, AMILI also developed a sustainable prebiotic powder by recycling unused kale stems.