Bifidice

Bifidice is a Chilean biotechnology company that develops and sells a functional probiotic ingredient for the food industry, with an initial focus on ice cream. The company's core technology, based on a formula developed 40 years ago in Siberia, utilizes Bifidumbacterium bifidum to enhance the gut microbiota. This technology is designed to create functional foods that help combat allergies and chronic diseases by restoring the immune system.

The company was founded by Anastasia Gutkevich, a Russian economist and the daughter of the original formula's creators, biophysicists Eugeny and Elena Gutkevich. Anastasia arrived in Chile in 2016 after being accepted into the Start-Up Chile accelerator program to commercialize her family's decades of scientific research. She was later joined by co-founder Antje Bracker, an expert in B2B sales and growth, to scale the company. The company's history traces back to Siberia in 1981, where Anastasia's parents pioneered research into the connection between microbiota and health. Their studies found that ice cream was an ideal delivery system for preserving the probiotic bacteria, ensuring they reach the intestine intact.

Initially operating with a direct-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce model in Chile, Bifidice has transitioned to a business-to-business (B2B) model to scale internationally. The company sells its probiotic technology as a functional ingredient to other food manufacturers for integration into products like ice cream, yogurts, and snacks. It also offers white-label finished products. Bifidice has operations in Chile, Colombia, and Argentina and is planning expansion into Mexico. The startup has raised a total of $850K in funding, with its latest seed round in December 2023 led by Südlich Capital and supported by angel investors.

Keywords: functional ingredients, probiotics, biotechnology, food technology, microbiota, Bifidobacterium, immune system, allergy treatment, chronic disease prevention, food supplements, B2B ingredients, frozen foods, gut health, functional ice cream, microbiome technology, scientific research, food innovation, nutraceuticals, health and wellness, e-commerce, international expansion.