The founders of nutraceutical company Seraphina Therapeutics, producer of the new Fatty 15 essential fatty acid supplement, come with an origin story that’s fit for a Bond movie. Dr. Stephanie Venn-Watson, the CEO, is a veterinary epidemiologist with a host of degrees and credentials across disciplines. Dr. Eric Venn-Watson, her husband and COO, is a Navy physician that spent years internationally deployed as a military orthopedic surgeon and aerospace medicine specialist before entering the private sector. Recently, the two have been featured in publications like Forbes, Authority, and Worth as examples of an entrepreneurial power couple.
But here’s a wrinkle that could be straight from a comic book: the Seraphina pair discovered their first product—a new-to-science variety of healthful fatty acid—by working on a long-standing project studying Navy-raised and -trained dolphins. The discovery was corroborated with the aid of 60 years’ worth of Navy-collected experimental dolphin data and cell samples. You read that correctly, military dolphins.
More specifically, the discovery is of a trace fatty acid called C15:0, eventually to be branded as Fatty 15, that Seraphina says has evidence of significantly promoting cellular resilience and general health. The company claims this fatty acid boosts human longevity by strengthening cell membranes, supporting mitochondria, and activating receptors in our bodies that regulate metabolism, immunity, mood, sleep, and appetite.
