Woolworths-backed biotech All G raises $10m to create ‘bio-identical’ human breast milk

A Sydney start-up claims it can create ‘bio-identical milk’ that delivers 90 per cent of breast milk’s nutrition.

All G founder Jan Pacas says the company has been able to replicate 90 per cent of the nutritional value of human breast milk.

An Australian biotech firm says it has successfully used precision fermentation to reproduce the most vital proteins in human breast milk, setting the stage to revolutionise the $90bn global infant formula market.

Serial entrepreneur Jan Pacas – who founded popular pet care marketplace Mad Paws and HR software company Flare before establishing biotech All G – says the breakthrough will dramatically close the nutritional gap for babies not breastfed.

The Sydney-based firm – whose investors include W23, the venture fund backed by Woolworths – has raised more than $10m in a convertible note round and formed a joint venture with French dairy giant Armor Protéines to scale globally. This takes the total capital it has raised so far to $50m.

The funds will be used to commercialise All G’s technology that bypasses cows, using precision fermentation to create “bio-identical milk” and human proteins in industrial bioreactors. But Mr Pacas says the path to full commercialisation remains complex, given the tight regulations across the global infant formula market.

“We’re not replicating exactly 100 per cent (of human breast milk) because there’s a long tail of sugars and this and that. But to put it in simple terms, look, if breast milk is 100 per cent of the nutritional input, then the best infant formula from a Danone is at the best 10 per cent, we can get to 80 or 90 per cent so it is transformationally better,” Mr Pacas said.

ALL G founder and chief executive Jan Pacas.

All G’s technology is based on genetic engineering, where a microorganism is manipulated to function as a “mini cell factory”. This factory is fed water and a carbon source, converting it into the desired protein. This process represents a significant logistical and economic shift from traditional dairy extraction.

“Just like you have computer code, you have biological code, which is expressed in the kind of four amino acids. So you take this identical DNA code and you take it into a microorganism like bacteria or something similar. And basically we genetically engineer this microorganism to become a mini cell factory.”

All G is developing recombinant human lactoferrin, a key functional protein in breast milk, as well as other major human milk proteins.

Lactoferrin, often called “white gold” due to its scarcity and high value, is currently sourced from cow’s milk, requiring about 10,000 litres of milk to yield just one kilogram of the protein. The high cost has limited its use primarily to premium infant formula and nutraceuticals.

All G is developing recombinant human lactoferrin, a key functional protein in breast milk, as well as other major human milk proteins.

Mr Pacas said the development of recombinant lactoferrin as an alternative to animal-based production has long been constrained by technical barriers – notably replicating native glycosylation patterns and achieving yields sufficient for commercial viability. He said All G has overcome these hurdles, enabling the production of lactoferrin with high purity, consistent quality, scalable production, and ultimately greater global accessibility.

“You need billions of litres of milk. So there’s an absolute shortage,” Mr Pacas said. He anticipates that All G’s method will fill this shortage with a product produced at a better, more efficient price point.

The $10m raise follows a $40m Series A round and is earmarked for scaling commercial production. Mr Pacas said the company’s first product – a recombinant bovine lactoferrin – is set to launch in early 2026. This product is already certified GRAS (or Generally Recognised as Safe) for adult nutrition sales in the US, with other filings underway.

The more ambitious product, identical human breast milk proteins for use in infant formula, faces a longer regulatory path.

“Human breast milk in infant formula, I think is three years away, in the first markets,” Mr Pacas said, citing the complex regulatory process of introducing a novel protein to the baby food segment.

Originally published as Woolworths-backed biotech All G raises $10m to create ‘bio-identical’ human breast milk