Rewire Your Microbiome

Guest Bio: Ara Katz

A serial entrepreneur, advisor, and angel investor, Ara Katz has eclectic experience at the intersection of health, tech, environment, media, and design. 

She founded Seed Health to pioneer applications of microbes for both human and planetary health. Her work encompasses the translation of breakthrough science for a pipeline of probiotic innovations from discovery through commercialization across product, brand, insights, design-thinking, delivery technologies, industrial design, international DTC, new retail strategies, community, fundraising, channel expansion, business development, and science communication. 

She spearheaded the company’s $40MM fundraising to accelerate R+D and accelerate the company’s pipeline beyond gut microbiome into microbial applications across dermatology, oral hygiene, pediatrics, women's health, infant health, and nutrition. She brought the company carbon negative, to profitability, and led the acquisition of digital health company, Auggi.

Ara is also a co-founder of Seed Health’s environmental division, SeedLabs, and its first sister biotech company focused on women’s health, LUCA Biologics. Their first therapeutic for rUTI enters the clinic in September 2021 followed by interventions for Bacterial Vaginosis and Preterm Birth. 

Previously, Ara co-founded mobile commerce startup Spring, where she helped launch ApplePay on iPhone, and has invested in and advised companies across consumer, health, and tech such as RXDefine (TeleMed), C16 Biosciences (Sustainability), MindBodyGreen (Wellness), Mahmee (Maternal Care), Stadium Goods (Consumer / Marketplace), and Unicycle (Ed Tech). 

Ara was a Visiting Fellow at the MIT Media Lab, where she helped create the Center for Future Storytelling and CCA’s Design Thinking MBA program. She has appeared on numerous podcasts like Rich Roll, Girlboss Radio, Welltodo, Commune, and Broken Brain. She has been named in Marie Claire’s ‘The New Guard: The 50 Most Influential Women in America,’ Business Insider’s Silicon Alley ‘Top 100’ and ‘36 Rockstar Women in NYC Tech,’ Create + Cultivate’s ‘100 List for STEM,’ and Women We Admire’s ‘Top 100 Women CEOs of 2021.’ Her work has earned accolades such as Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas 2019, 2020, and 2021, TIME’s Best Inventions 2018, and a Webby Award for Best Use of Stories in 2020. 

She lives in Venice, California with her husband and five-year-old son, Pax (the reason Seed Health exists).