ProFuse raises $1.5M to fight GLP-1 muscle loss
What's the deal? Israeli startup ProFuse Technology has raised $1.5 million in early-stage funding to shift from cultivated meat into a muscle health discovery platform. Green Circle Foodtech VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Siddhi CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Tempo BeveragesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → backed the round.
What's the endgame? The money funds a high-throughput screening platform that tests dietary supplements and therapeutics targeting muscle atrophy. ProFuse can screen more than 10,000 molecules a week using cultivated human skeletal muscle tissue.
Why now? Muscle loss is a well-publicised side effect of GLP-1 drugs, driving interest in ingredients that limit the problem. Marketing analytics firm Blue Chalk estimates 13.1% of US adults now take GLP-1 drugs, with penetration set to grow as pill formats spread and Medicare coverage expands.
The investor view: "The GLP-1 trend is not going away," said Green Circle partner and MD Graham Anderson. "This is an arc that's going to be going on for 20 years as they keep finding new things that GLP-1s are good for, so we're going to have to find ways to manage side effects."
ProFuse sees an opening because rival efforts cluster around the myostatin/TGF-beta pathway. "We see a blue ocean of opportunity here because there aren't any really groundbreaking novel targets and molecules out there right now," said chief technology officer Tamar Eigler-Hirsh.
How it makes money: On supplements, ProFuse is screening hundreds of GRAS molecules already approved for food use, aiming to commercialise combinations through food and nutrition partners. Chief executive officer Guy Nevo Michrowski noted NestléDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and DanoneDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → are already developing muscle-preserving products for GLP-1 users. On the pharma side, the model could involve R&D payments, milestones, royalties, or acquisition.
ProFuse began screening in early 2026 and has identified promising supplement combinations moving toward validation, plus early drug candidates that face a longer path. It plans to develop compounds to the lead stage, including validation in mouse models, before handing them to pharma partners.
What could go wrong? The $1.5 million is incremental against prior seed funding of roughly $2.5–3 million in 2022 and a 2024 grant, making this more a bridging round than a transformational one. Drug candidates remain far from commercialisation, and the company is still an early-stage bet.
The signal: The GLP-1 boom has created a new market concern around loss of lean mass. Even a small round like this reflects investor appetite for the emerging class of tools and therapies built to counter the side effects of obesity drugs.
Read more: AgFunder News
Image credit: ProFuse Technology
