Preserving breast milk is convenient for lactating mothers and ensures vital nutrients are maintained. Milkify is a service that uses a freeze-drying procedure, so mothers can powder their breast milk for up to three years without refrigeration. Berkley Luck and Pedro Silva got a deal with Gwyneth Paltrow and Lori Greiner. Milkify is now worth an estimated $2 million.
The Founders
Berkley Luck and Pedro Silva are a husband-and-wife team from Houston, Texas. Berkley has a Ph.D. in medicine from Baylor College of Medicine, while Pedro has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rice University.
Before launching their business, Berkley was a consultant at Solarea Bio and Pedro was a web developer before becoming an investment banker at JP Morgan. He also spent five years as assistant vice president of EIG Global Energy Partners.
Founding Milkify
Back in grad school, one of Berkley’s colleagues had trouble pumping and preserving their breast milk. As Luck was studying probiotics, she was inspired to create a solution that conserves beneficial bacteria in mothers’ milk.
She used a freeze-dryer in her studies, and implemented it in her work. This made it possible for breast milk to not come in contact with any equipment, giving it a long shelf life of at least three years.
Berkley and her husband launched Milkify in 2019. But instead of inventing a product, they started a service. Their company sends delivery kits to customers, who fill up sealed pouches and send them back.
Getting on Shark Tank
At first, the business was operated from a van that drove around town advertising its service. In 2021, the founders raised $1.2 million in funding from MassChallenge, and invested in a 6,400-square-foot facility.
They also hired more staff, mostly mothers. Since its launch, the startup has helped save more than 500,000 ounces of breastmilk. While waiting for patent approval, the founders were looking to boost their capital and scale operations.
After Shark Tank
Although the product doesn’t appeal to the typical audience that watches Shark Tank, the product got a strong boost from appearing on TV. It doesn’t appear the deal with Lori and Gwyneth has closed. They now claim to have over 6,000 satisfied customers.
If you want to try their service first-hand, visit their website, Milkify.me. People who live in Texas and Irvine can drop off their breast milk at their office. Those outside the region can only do shipping. Milkify has streamlined the shipping and delivery process to make it efficient and hassle-free for customers.
The startup has a 5-star average from 140 reviews on Google. The company is thriving and has 10 full-time employees. Milkify’s valuation is estimated to be around $2 million as it’s still a young startup. Only time will tell if they will be able to become consistently profitable in the long run. Previous baby products on Shark Tank such as Hatch Baby have gone on to become huge success stories!
