[Novias] Visualizing a Month of Nutritional Status with a Few Strands of Hair: The Innovation of Hair Analysis by a University Spin-off

大阪府立大学発ベンチャーが工学技術で挑む、ヘルスケア行動変容のブレイクスルー

Hello everyone. I am Fumiyuki Inoue, CEO of Novias. Thank you for being here today.

We are a healthcare startup dedicated to extending healthy life expectancy by developing innovative services for healthy individuals. Now in our eighth year, we operate from Osaka as a spin-off from Osaka Prefecture University (now Osaka Metropolitan University). The core of our technology originates from the micro-element analysis methods developed at the Faculty of Engineering at Osaka City University.

Our service, "MINE," evaluates nutritional intake, particularly essential minerals, using just 5 to 10 strands of hair sent by users.

The biggest unsolved challenge in the healthcare industry is triggering long-term behavioral change. Simply tracking lifelogs on digital devices is rarely enough to change human habits. However, receiving a quantitative, personalized message derived from one's own body—such as blood, urine, or hair—creates a powerful realization that drives real change. We focused on hair, which is the easiest sample for users to collect.

尿や血液と異なり「変動を受けない」毛髪検査：1本から低コストで測れる特許技術

The primary benefit of using hair to measure nutritional status is that it is unaffected by short-term daily fluctuations.

Blood, urine, and stool samples are highly volatile and change based on the time of day or what the user ate the previous day, offering only a single "point" of data. In contrast, hair grows at approximately 1 centimeter per month. By analyzing a few centimeters of hair, we can evaluate a continuous "line" of data spanning several months. This provides an accurate assessment of a user's average long-term nutritional habits.

Today, while minerals are essential nutrients, 80% to 90% of the population fails to meet standard dietary guidelines. Prolonged deficiencies are linked to chronic conditions like lifestyle diseases.

Although hair analysis has a history of over 50 years, traditional methods required cutting a bundle of over 100 strands of hair, which was mentally stressful for users, and cost around 10,000 yen (approx. $70 USD) per test.

By leveraging advanced engineering and analytical technologies, we have developed a patented method that requires only a few strands of hair at less than half the cost of traditional tests.

全国300店舗のサロン導入から大手OEMまで。健康経営やフェムテック領域へ拡大

Currently, our proprietary test kit, MINE, is offered at approximately 300 beauty and wellness salons across Japan.

Because the kit's packaging and branding can be easily modified, we also provide OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) services for corporate wellness initiatives. For example, our system has been adopted by Sansan Inc. for their employee health programs.

In addition to being low-cost and stable against daily fluctuations, a key strength of our service is that users can visually track the results of their lifestyle changes. If a user increases their intake of deficient minerals through supplements, the change is reflected in their hair analysis a few months later. This visualization of effort serves as a powerful motivator to maintain healthy habits.

骨粗鬆症や高血圧の早期検知へ。三菱総合研究所との臨床研究でバイオマーカー化を目指す

While we currently focus on wellness and beauty programs mainly for women, our long-term goal is to utilize hair analysis as a biomarker for early disease detection.

As a first step, we conducted a clinical study last year with Mitsubishi Research Institute (MRI) to investigate early detection of hypertension using mineral ratios in hair. Having achieved significant findings, we are currently drafting research papers for publication.

Moving forward, we plan to expand this to diabetes and osteoporosis, which commonly affects postmenopausal women due to declining calcium metabolism. Since osteoporosis is often asymptomatic and clinic tests are rarely pursued early, we envision a family-based health gift model. For instance, children can send a few strands of their mother's hair to check her calcium status, helping prevent fractures and bedridden states.

猫の水銀測定から始まるペットテック展開。スピンアウトベンチャーで世界初へ挑戦

Last year, we partnered with a major pet insurance company to launch a hair analysis research project involving 500 to 600 cats.

Because cats eat a lot of tuna-based cat food, they face a high risk of accumulating harmful methylmercury. We commercialized a technology to measure mercury levels in feline hair and are now developing services to evaluate essential mineral balances.

Since over 80% of cats in Japan are mixed-breed domestic cats, they have highly consistent hair quality, making it easier to standardize testing. (In contrast, dogs vary too widely in coat types and sizes between breeds like Chihuahuas and Labradors, making standardization complex.) This feline hair testing service is a world first, and we are preparing to spin out a dedicated pet-tech venture to accelerate its commercialization.

We will continue to expand our partnerships with life-science companies across corporate wellness, femtech, and pet-tech sectors. Thank you.

質疑応答・フィードバック

富山氏（コメンテーター）: Thank you, Mr. Inoue. The concept of utilizing hair to bypass daily biometric fluctuations is highly compelling.

First, does the same testing methodology apply to both humans and animals like cats or dogs?

井上氏: Thank you. While human hair analysis has decades of research, animal application required verification. Our study of 600 cats proved that feline hair can be tested with the same efficacy as human hair. We are collaborating with veterinary departments to launch this commercial service soon.

However, dogs are highly complex due to extreme variations in hair quality, color, and size between breeds (e.g., Chihuahua vs. Labrador). To expand to dogs, we would need to develop breed-specific tests, such as a "Shiba Inu test." Therefore, we are starting with cats, which have a very uniform coat type in Japan.

富山氏: That makes sense. Since kidney disease is common in cats, early detection has strong demand. What other diseases are you targeting for early detection in humans?

井上氏: Hypertension is our closest target, based on our joint study with MRI. Next is diabetes, followed by osteoporosis. Because people rarely go to clinics for osteoporosis screening, we want to open up a family health check market where family members gift tests to one another.

富山氏: Preventing osteoporosis is of great social value. What are your immediate goals regarding funding or partnerships?

井上氏: For our human business, we seek corporate wellness and femtech partners. For the pet-tech spin-off, we are actively raising a seed round to fund commercialization. We look forward to connecting with VC firms and strategic partners in the pet-tech space.

富山氏: Thank you. Once clinical evidence is established, this will be a massive market. We look forward to your progress.

井上氏: Thank you very much.