Welcome to Oh look another health trend! This newsletter is an unfiltered, nerdy analysis of stuff that’s happening in the health startup world. 

🍫 Meet the Michelangelo of protein startups

Naming a protein brand after the most famous muscled sculpture there is? Memorable.

Using the tagline “Humans aren’t perfect, but David is.”? Ballsy.

Which is why we are discussing it today. 

I think a screenshot from Instagram is helpful, if not necessary, to begin:

David, just to get us all on the same page, is a startup developing high-protein, low-calorie foods that are “craveable.”

It’s the new business baby of Peter Rahul, who founded RXBar. After selling RXBar for a cool $600M in 2017, Rahul decided he wasn’t done with the bar life. He went back to his drawing board (presumably now gilded) and got straight to work.

David was born: sugar-free, gluten-free, artificial sweetener/flavor-free, protein-full, and hopefully tasty as heck, given the big ol’ commotion he’s generating.

Because fuss there has been. David raised $10M in August — notable investors include Huberman and Attia — and Rahul has been teasing a new RXBar-esque product launch since 2022. I’m surprised Huberman hasn’t suavely munched on David a sample in every pod episode. 

But! on September 16th the wait will be over when their first product, a perfect protein bar, is set to launch.

Now, the science is pretty clear that eating more protein is beneficial to both build and maintain lean muscle mass. Most experts agree we need around one gram per pound of body weight per day. Which is no small amount.

But no one, understandably, wants to live off chicken breast and egg whites. So, the food industry is generously looking for tastier ways to help us out. 

I’m not a food scientist. But I’m guessing that to make 28 grams of protein taste like a chocolate fudge brownie using only 150 calories, you either need to add a whole bunch of crap or a whole bunch of money.

David’s gone for the latter.

To be clear, I would totally buy this bar. If I could afford it,* I would nosh on one regularly. I have always been a fudge-brownie-over-egg-white gal.

But all this Perfect Protein^™ hullabaloo and Willy Wonka-style branding begs the question(s): 

Are we getting a little dotty about high-protein low-calorie foods? Would we really rather spend half our food budget on pricey, candy-esque protein snacks, than focus on meeting our nutritional needs the way nature (and wallets) intended — through whole foods?

It appears so. And I fully believe David will be a resounding success — if they don’t price themselves out of the market. 

But let’s talk business opportunities. 

Here’s my take on the healthy treat, high-protein snack space:

➡ It’s about to take off. Food science is figuring out how to make candy healthier and protein tastier, and consumers will lap up new products.

➡ There’s still plenty of market white space. Think of product positioning through three lenses: Healthy, treat-style, and high-protein. David, of course, plays in the holy trinity. But other areas of overlap also hold opportunities.

For example, some price-sensitive consumers will prioritize protein content over, say, the presence of artificial sweeteners (i.e. sacrifice a level of ‘health’). Others aren’t looking for treats, just high-protein snacks. And many will flock to healthy candy regardless of protein content. 

So, lots of room to play.

➡ Navigating environmental impact will be key. Many good-for-humans ingredients aren’t great for the environment — especially when you’re producing them at scale. Protein is a particularly prickly one. 

Animal-based proteins are king when it comes to quality and bioavailability, but scientists have been sounding the alarm about their environmental impact for years. And consumers aren’t ready to embrace greener animal-based alternatives, like insect proteins, yet.

Either way, healthy snack brands will need to manage their environmental impact and reputation, or they’re unlikely to win over younger consumers. 

*Rahul has (strategically) not released info on price or ingredients. My guess is at least $7 a bar. But we’ll know soon enough, as he keeps reminding us!

Things on my radar this week

⚠️ It’s becoming increasingly clear that forever chemicals, or PFAS, are a big bad deal in health. They lurk in much of what we eat, drink, and use — and scientists are only beginning to understand how they affect our health (we now know some are carcinogenic). This New York Times article on PFAS in fertilizer is eye-opening. 

🩻 Spotify’s Daniel Ek’s body-scanning AI startup, Neko Health, just expanded into the UK market. Their ~$390 scan checks on everything from metabolic health to skin cancer. While notable medical professionals in Ek’s home country of Sweden have suggested Neko’s founders are “losing their minds a bit,” it hasn’t stopped investors from throwing $65M their way. 

🎒 Hydrox is capitalizing on the rucking trend with a new $210 backpack. Interestingly, Hydrox’s pack is cheaper and smaller than GORUCK’s version. Where are we gonna fit all our David bars? 

Thank you for reading! If you find yourself frequently enjoying these essays and you’re inclined to forward one to a friend, please do. Nerds are terrible at self-promotion. We mean to focus on growing our lists, but we get too busy digging into random stuff. 🚜

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