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The Graz startup Lanbiotic produces medical skin care products with viable bacteria specifically for skin affected by neurodermatitis. The two founders, Patrick Hart and Katrin Wallner, use the patent-pending bacterial strain “Lactococcus Lanbioticus”.
Lanbiotic: “Scaling as the new normal”
“With our probiotic skin applications, we bring health-promoting bacteria directly to the skin in order to restore the natural balance of the skin microbiome and specifically combat skin problems at their source,” explains Wallner.
For the founder, the last year felt like a dream not only come true, but even exceeded. On the other hand, it is a “new normal” to work on scaling the company.
“We have developed additional products with our unique bacterial strain ‘Lactococcus Lanbioticus’ to more fully address the needs of people with skin prone to neurodermatitis. Flora Bath and Flora Sun have been added,” explains Wallner.
Flora Bath is a special bath additive developed for people who are affected by eczema over large areas or on the scalp – an area where care creams often reach the limits of their practicality.
“As always at Lanbiotic, the focus is on supplementing the skin microbiome, i.e. ‘the living part’ of the skin’s natural protective barrier that covers the entire body, with probiotic bacteria,” continues Wallner. “A balance in the skin microbiome, as in the gut, is crucial to maintaining skin health and relieving discomfort.”
Flora Sun, on the other hand, is another product that addresses the special challenges of sensitive skin when exposed to UV radiation. Studies have shown that the skin microbiome can improve the skin’s natural ability to deal with the effects – and often damage – of sun exposure.
EHI seal for online shop
“At the same time, we have also expanded internationally: entering the German market was a big step that involved adapting our production and logistics capacities in order to be able to supply additional international markets in the long term. Our webshop was also equipped with the EHI seal certified to enable our customers to make safe and trustworthy purchases.”
The team also grew in 2024, and attention was gained for its own products and brand through numerous media appearances and trade fair participation.
“As a further highlight, we were accredited by the Chamber of Pharmacists with our specialist training, which motivates pharmacists to attend our training courses and learn more about the still quite ‘niche’ topic of skin microbiome,” says Wallner.
New markets in focus
The startup is currently working intensively on developing, strategically positioning and scaling Lanbiotic as a company and brand. The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of people with neurodermatitis through their microbiome-based products.
“We would like to establish Lanbiotic in additional markets, especially in countries where the prevalence of neurodermatitis is high. “We are working on efficient marketing processes to increase our brand awareness and are expanding our sales structures,” explains the founder. “In order to best support this step, we are specifically looking for trustworthy partners for international sales who share our values and quality standards. The collaborations are intended to enable us to offer our products sustainably in other European and non-European countries and to make the topic of skin microbiome better known internationally.”
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In addition, the team is optimizing production processes in order to be able to meet growing demand. In product development, the focus is on developing additional science-based probiotic care products that are specifically tailored to the needs of people with neurodermatitis and sensitive skin. We are in intensive contact with industry and cutting-edge research.
Lanbiotic: Creating structures and processes
Internally, people are particularly busy building up the organization. We are working on creating structures and processes that can support long-term growth. The aim is to build a healthy organization that meets the expansion and innovation goals and flexibly leads the company into the next stages of development.
In the past, Lanbiotic has also been supported by Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws), among others. This is how the company completed it aws First Incubator and received over aws innovation protection a grant to protect its intellectual property. Preseed and seed funding followed later aws Innovative Solutions. With this seed funding program, aws supports innovative start-up ideas that have a positive social impact beyond the company’s boundaries. The focus is on scalable business models. In the case of Lanbiotic, the funding was essential to finance product development and market launch and to generally professionalize.
“In my opinion, there couldn’t be better funding for us than aws Seed Innovative Solutions at the moment,” she says. “It is a non-repayable grant of 400,000 euros that can be used for a wide range of market launch and product launch activities. By nature the program is very competitive, but if you are selected for funding you really have a huge boost to building a sustainable business.”
The further goals of Lanbiotic
In general, the program has already brought them much more than money. “I found the application process per se to be a valuable experience in which I could take a closer look at our business model and define our goals,” explains the Graz native. “The fact that we were now able to surpass them so apparently ‘easily’ is of course the bonus.”
Wallner sees her mission confirmed by the positive response from the constantly growing base of regular customers. “But we also know that many people are not yet aware of Lanbiotic and that neurodermatitis is still a major problem in many countries,” she says. “We therefore want to scale in a targeted manner, increase sales and profits, expand within and outside of Europe and further diversify our product portfolio.”
In terms of sales development, Lanbiotic is expected to double its sales target in 2024, as Wallner explains. “Our goal for 2025 is ambitious, but we are confident that we will do a good job here again. We have currently achieved six-figure net sales, and thanks to the support of the aws seed funding, we will be even more profitable this year, like every year since we were founded.”
Link tip to the company’s page
* Disclaimer: The startup portrait appears in cooperation with Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws)
1. Can you tell us about the unique probiotic skin care products developed by Lanbiotic and how they help in restoring the natural balance of the skin microbiome for individuals with neurodermatitis?
2. How has the journey been like for Lanbiotic so far, from being recognized as the ‘Emerging Startup of the Year’ to scaling up operations and receiving international certifications?
3. What challenges did you face while expanding into the German market and what strategies did you implement to tackle them?
4. What sparked the idea to start Lanbiotic and how has the experience been for you working together as a couple in this venture?
5. Can you discuss the importance of creating sustainable partnerships for international sales and expansion?
6. What are the current market trends and future opportunities for Lanbiotic in the field of skin microbiome-based products for neurodermatitis patients?
7. How has the support from Austria Wirtschaftsservice (aws) impacted the growth of your company, and what advice would you give to entrepreneurs seeking funding for innovative startup ideas?
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