UCC spins out women’s health firm FemmeBiome in bid for seed investment

(Left to right) Senior client advisor at Enterprise Ireland Ellen Ní Cléirigh with FemmeBiome founder Professor Siobhain O’ Mahony, the company’s chief operations officer Claire O’Connor and director at UCC Innovation Dr Sally Cudmore.

University College Cork (UCC) has announced that it is spinning out its women’s health company FemmeBiome as it seeks further investment to support its next phase of growth.

The company emerged from research conducted at APC Microbiome Ireland and was founded by Professor of Neurobiology at UCC Siobhain O’Mahony. FemmeBiome builds on more than two decades of research into the microbiome-gut-brain axis and its role in women’s health.

UCC said it is seeking to “develop microbiome-based products designed specifically for women and informed by clinical research and women’s lived experiences”.

According to UCC, Prof. O’Mahony and her team identified differences in how the gut microbiome responds to stress in women and men, particularly involving the estrobolome, a group of gut bacteria involved in oestrogen metabolism.

“This led the team to explore how changes in the gut microbiome during periods of hormonal transition may influence women’s health and wellbeing,” UCC said.

Prof. O’Mahony said “women’s biology has been an afterthought in how supplements are researched and developed”.

“It is time to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach. Women deserve products grounded in their biology, backed by rigorous science and developed specifically for them,” she said.

According to the company, it collaborated with Health Innovation Hub Ireland (HIHI) to survey women aged 45-55 on their experiences, receiving more than 120 responses in just two days.

Participants were invited to take part in focus groups to better understand the symptoms having the greatest impact on their lives with six of the most troublesome and commonly reported symptoms in the survey being brain related, while sleep disturbance, anxiety and brain fog among the most frequently cited.

The company said the data from the survey and focus groups, combined with the team’s deep microbiome research expertise, informed the development of FemmeBiome’s first product MoreMe.

MoreMe is a targeted synbiotic gut health supplement designed to support women during perimenopause and menopause.

Pre-sales for the product will open on World Menopause Day, October 18 this year. The company is also developing a pipeline of additional products.

FemmeBiome received €700,000 in feasibility and commercialisation grant funding from Enterprise Ireland, and is now supported by Enterprise Ireland’s Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF).

The company is seeking seed investment to support its next phase of growth, with the funding round expected to close by the end of 2026.

Director at UCC Innovation Dr Sally Cudmore said: “We are delighted to see FemmeBiome spin out of UCC and look forward to supporting the company’s continued growth and international scaling.

“FemmeBiome is an excellent example of how research at UCC can be translated into products that address real societal needs.” 

In June, Cork medical technology company NeuroBell, which was also spun out by UCC, secured €4.8m in investment to accelerate the launch of its LUNA neonatal brain monitor in the US.

NeuroBell was spun out from UCC in 2023 after nearly a decade of academic research into newborn brain health. The LUNA device can help identify seizures in newborns, which often produce no visible symptoms, but delays in detection and treatment multiply the risk of long-term brain damage.