Ultrafine bubbles company Hydrosome Labs announced $3.7 million in seed funding to scale its operations, expand sales efforts, and continue to innovate. This patented process—which creates Hydrosome H2O—delivers active ingredients to cells more efficiently and completely. Commercial uses include improving nutrient uptake in skincare, driving more efficient and sustainable processes for precision fermentation, delivering faster, longer-lasting, enhanced hydration in performance drinks, and helping plants grow faster and healthier with less fertilizer.
At the core is a new process utilizing established science to improve water’s ability to deliver active ingredients to cells more effectively and efficiently. A common occurrence in water is the formation of bubbles, which create a structure that traps gases.
However, not all bubbles are created equal. Nearly 30 years ago, scientists started to investigate the formation of very tiny bubbles in water (sometimes called ultrafine bubbles). These bubbles – which are invisible to the naked eye and among the smallest ever detected – have unique properties. Hydrosome’s ultra-fine bubbles, “Hydrosomes,” have characteristics no other water technology has.
— A significantly higher surface area than bubbles in regular water (1 trillion fit in 1 champagne bubble) makes them excellent transporters to cells.
— Products leveraging “Hydrosomes” have a longer shelf life (up to 18 months or higher) than any other ultrafine bubble technology. The closest shelf life in the emerging nanobubble category is four to six months.
— The process is sustainable and the patented process does not add chemicals or consumables and requires little energy to operate.
The company is prioritizing the beauty and fermentation verticals. But it has projects in the pipeline in agriculture and beverages, with future potential in pharmaceuticals, which could better deliver drugs to the body.
Innovation has been slow in fermentation production, a process involving customizing yeast and/or bacteria to produce specific molecules for use in various applications, such as food, ingredients, biofuels, industrial enzymes, and pharmaceuticals. Hydrosome H2O technology doubles precision fermentation yields and decreases production time. And the bottom-line benefits to the industry include faster fermentations like higher yields, lower energy and nutrient inputs, lower labor costs, higher efficiencies, and no added chemicals. This technology can potentially help solve a global industry bottleneck in fermentation capacity and equipment.
The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (an economic development arm of the state government) recently awarded a $71,000 grant to Hydrosome Labs through its Illinois Innovation Voucher Program. This grant will enable Hydrosome to further study the fermentation process to improve nutrient and gas delivery to cells. And this grant (also designed to further Illinois’ position as an innovation hub) will aim to increase production efficiency in the fermentation space, which can have significant operational and economic impact across various industries that utilize fermentation.
KEY QUOTES:
“History is filled with natural substances improved upon for the benefit of society—carbon into carbon fiber, silica into computer chips, and more. What if water itself could be improved naturally and sustainably? That’s what our technology does.”
-Bob Jacobs, Hydrosome Labs President
“We are making changes to the properties of water no one imagined possible. The possible applications are almost limitless.”
-Nick Jackowetz, Hydrosome Labs’ Chief Scientist
“We’re excited to introduce Hydrosome H2O® as the latest technology innovation in our hero product, Youth Activating Melon Serum Advanced Formula. Hydrosome H2O combines with Meaningful Beauty’s proprietary Melon Leaf Stem Cell Technology to visibly plump, firm, and deeply hydrate skin and increase elasticity as it helps protect from environmental aggressors.”
-Laura Lum, Co-President of Meaningful Beauty
“2024 marks a pivotal year for the company as we transition out of stealth mode. We anticipate significant growth in 2025, with 94 deals currently in the pipeline, valued at over $150 million, including ongoing negotiations with leading Fortune 500 companies in the beauty, food processing, and food and beverage sectors. Additionally, the seed round brings our total capital raised to $10 million. This technology represents a triple win—for consumers, manufacturers, and investors.”
-Paul Gadbut, Hydrosome CEO
