Calocurb, a New Zealand supplement maker that claims its hops-based capsules can trigger the body's own production of GLP-1, raised $27 million in Series A funding, the company reported on September 8. The round drew backing from Generate KiwiSaver, Icehouse Ventures, and several wholesale investors, according to B2B News.
The timing speaks to a broader shift in consumer health: as prescription weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy dominate headlines and clinic visits, a parallel market has emerged for over-the-counter alternatives that promise similar hormonal effects without needles or prescriptions. Whether natural supplements can deliver comparable results remains hotly debated, but investors appear willing to wager that demand will continue to swell.
Calocurb's pitch centers on Amarasate, a bitter hops extract developed through New Zealand government-funded research at Plant & Food Research starting in 2009. The company says the ingredient activates bitter taste receptors in the gut, which in turn trigger the release of GLP-1, CCK, and PYY—hormones involved in satiety and metabolism. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2022 found the extract increased gut peptides and reduced energy intake in healthy-weight men, though the trial was limited in scope.
More recently, a 24-week randomized controlled trial published in Obesity Pillars showed participants taking Calocurb lost a mean 4.3% of their body weight, compared with 0.5% on placebo. The study also reported fat mass loss of 4.5 kg versus 0.7 kg in the placebo group, with 3.5× greater visceral fat reduction and no loss of muscle mass among those taking the supplement, according to a Business Wire press release issued in July.
"The new clinical data proves not only Calocurb's contribution to weight loss overall, but also muscle preservation," founder and CEO Sarah Kennedy said at the time.
Revenue has reportedly tripled, according to Dealroom, and the company said it sold 250,000 units recently, marking a 300% increase year-over-year, B2B News reported. Ninety percent of sales come from the U.S. market, according to B2B News. The Series A ranks in the 95th percentile among similar-stage rounds in New Zealand's food sector over the past four years—a notable achievement for a category that often struggles to attract institutional capital.
Distribution spans practitioners and direct sales
Calocurb sells through its own website and Amazon, but it has also moved into professional channels. The company distributes through Ortho Molecular Products to licensed practitioners in the U.S., a pathway it formalized late last year with a 250 mg Amarasate formulation called Calocurb CLINICAL, available only through healthcare providers.
Kennedy, who previously led operations at Healtheries, Nutra-Life, and Vitaco and held senior positions at Fonterra, including vice president of international farming, has steered the company through rapid growth. Calocurb employs between 11 and 50 people, according to LinkedIn, and won New Zealand's Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year award in May.
Jason Wang, a partner at Icehouse Ventures, framed the investment as a calculated bet on consumer appetite for GLP-1 alternatives. "The prescription GLP-1 market is on track to grow from about $36 billion to about $217 billion by 2031, and Calocurb doesn't compete with that wave, it rides it," he told B2B News. UBS estimated in June that global GLP-1 revenues will exceed $100 billion by 2030, a forecast that has drawn both venture dollars and skepticism about sustainability.
In a September LinkedIn post, Wang wrote that Icehouse Ventures "backed Calocurb when they were still a local New Zealand project. Today they are a global growth story, up 200% year-on-year, with 90% of their revenue coming from the U.S."
U.S. expansion fueled by export credit facility
The new capital will support deeper penetration of the U.S. and U.K. markets, entry into new geographies, and outreach to clinicians and consumers, Icehouse Ventures said in a LinkedIn post. Calocurb had already secured a working capital loan guarantee facility from New Zealand Export Credit, BNZ, and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in April to underwrite its U.S. push.
"The facility has given us the confidence to pursue sizeable opportunities for continued growth in the United States market," Kennedy said at the time, according to an Export Credit case study.
Manufacturing is split across borders. Calocurb produces capsules with Lonza in the U.S., using hops grown in New Zealand's Motueka and Nelson regions and extracted in Australia. The supply chain reflects both the startup's roots and the practical realities of scaling a natural product with global ambitions.
Whether Calocurb can sustain its growth trajectory will depend, in part, on how regulators and consumers respond to claims about natural GLP-1 activation. The company has clinical data, but the weight-loss supplement industry is crowded, volatile, and prone to hype cycles. For now, Calocurb is betting that a scientifically backed, practitioner-endorsed product can carve out space alongside—or perhaps slightly beneath—the blockbuster injectables reshaping obesity treatment.
