Context:

Helaina is bridging the gap between breast milk and infant formula using biotechnology. The team is committed to providing nutrition that is best for both parent and child. Laura Katz, Helaina’s founder and CEO, pursues this mission using inspiration from generations of women before her who had to go to great lengths to ensure a healthy future for their own children. To pursue the mission, Helaina needed a team of mission driven scientists that hold expertise in the areas of biotech, food science, and molecular biology. Developing a technical strategy and hiring the right team members is a major challenge for many startups. Crafting a search process and strategy can be complex and time consuming. This is where Helikon Consulting came in to support Helaina.

Specific Challenge:

Helania was looking for a metabolic engineer to interface with junior and senior team members, playing a key role in the tech development pipeline. Making technical hires in a non-biotech hub like NYC can add time and complexity to the search process, and fitting in new team members with non-redundant skills made finding the right person a complex and time-consuming task. 

Helikon’s Work:

After meeting with CEO Laura Katz to discuss what Helaina was looking to accomplish with their hire, we were able to assess the application materials and begin the search. We tailored the search to a specific set of skills and traits that would attract the right fit for the team. Together, Helikon and Helaina found the ideal candidates to screen, as this strategy attracted a new and tailored applicant pool. From there, Helikon and Helaina chose and interviewed applicants. We assisted Helaina throughout the process, vetting skills that Dr. Krueger was confident would be successful in the specific role.