Investment Climate Podcast: Del Afonso of Harmony Baby Nutrition Shares How to Get Funded in 2026

In this episode of the Investment Climate Podcast, host Alex Shandrovsky interviews Del Afonso, Founder and CEO of Harmony Baby Nutrition. Del shares his insights on "geo-arbitrage" and how he was able to secure a $6M grant from the Brazilian Development Agency by setting up labs in Brazil and Hong Kong, significantly extending Harmony's runway. He also discusses the pivot away from endless R&D cycles towards commercialization and the importance of creating a direct-to-consumer brand to capture value in the infant nutrition industry.

The goal of Harmony Baby Nutrition is to revolutionize the $100B infant nutrition industry by creating a sterile, human-breastmilk-based liquid formula without added sugars. Currently, they are raising a $2M convertible note to launch their Generation 1 product in the US. This episode highlights the importance of strategic decision-making in the biotech industry and the value of focusing on commercialization and building a direct-to-consumer brand.