Forever Labs, an Ann Arbor company that banks young adult stem cells, today announced it has closed $2 million in financing. The funding will allow the company to continue research and accelerate brand development.
Forever Labs was founded in 2015 and is a longevity company that preserves healthy stem cells for future therapies that combat age-related diseases, as well as aging. The 15-minute, outpatient procedure involves a Forever Labs physician collecting mesenchymal stem cells, which have the ability to stimulate tissues to grow and repair themselves.
The cells are then frozen and stored agnostically in an FDA-compliant clinical-grade biorepository until needed.
“After years of research, studies continue to show that older animals treated with younger stem cells were living significantly healthier and longer lives,” says Steven Clausnitzer, co-founder and CEO. “Mark (Katakowski, co-founder and president) and I knew it was only a matter of time before this could be applied to humans and become a major breakthrough for treating age-related diseases
“We created Forever Labs as a solution to store those younger cells now, so people will live healthier and longer lives. We’re thrilled to have the support of such a well-respected group of investors that are helping us bring this vision to scale.”
The global stem cell market is expected to reach $15.6 billion by 2025.
“As someone that has been developing therapies using these cells for more than 15 years, I expect that stem cell banking will become a cornerstone of good medicine. There is simply too much value in them that is lost to time,” says Katakowski.
As people age, the decline in mesenchymal stem cells leads to age-related diseases such as stroke, heart disease, and osteoporosis.
“The Forever Labs team is on the forefront of stem cell research and pushing the science for longevity forward. I myself have personally experienced the breakthroughs of this science with knee and back injuries,” says Aaron Hirschhorn, founder and CEO of DogVacay. “The discovery and dedication to finding innovative ways to help health maintenance as opposed to disease treatment has life-changing implications, and I look forward to working closely with the team as this technology is propelled forward by increased adoption.”
The financing was from Northwestern Mutual, Silicon Badia Ventures, Babel Ventures, Hirschhorn, and members of the medical community including Dr. Michael Dobryansky, Dr. Timothy Davis, Dr. Michael Schenden, and others.
