Apollo Backs Dental Startup vVARDIS at $1 Billion-Plus Valuation
Apollo Global has invested in dental startup vVARDIS at a valuation above $1 billion, making the company a private healthcare unicorn. The founders retain about 70% of the business, with the US addressable market alone put at $30 billion.
Tooth decay, the world’s most common non-communicable disease, affects 90% of US adults, and treatment for more than a century has largely meant drilling and filling. vVARDIS’s Curodont uses peptide-based formulations designed to penetrate enamel and trigger the tooth to rebuild itself using minerals in saliva, without drilling, needles or anesthesia. vVARDIS says the product has a 90%-plus success rate in arresting and reversing early cavities, has treated 3 million teeth in the US and is used in about 20% of US dental offices within two years.
From the sources (6 posts)
@alaliqasemA Swiss dental startup just hit $1B+ valuation — by making the dentist’s drill obsolete. Here’s the story of vVARDIS and why @ApolloGlobal just bet big on it 🧵
@alaliqasemTooth decay is the world’s most common non-communicable disease. 90% of US adults have it. For 100+ years, the only answer was: drill it out, fill it with polymer. Two Swiss sisters decided that wasn’t good enough.
@alaliqasemDrs. Haley & Goly Abivardi spent 25 years researching a different approach. Their product, Curodont™, uses peptide-based formulations that penetrate enamel and trigger the tooth to rebuild itself — using minerals already in your saliva.
@alaliqasemThe results: → 90%+ success rate in arresting & reversing early cavities → 250+ peer-reviewed publications → 3 million teeth treated in the US alone → Present in ~20% of US dental offices in just 2 years Jamie Dimon praised it at the JP
@alaliqasemNow @ApolloGlobal has invested at a $1B+ valuation — making vVARDIS one of Europe’s few private healthcare unicorns. The founders retain ~70% of the company. The US addressable market alone: $30 billion.
@alaliqasem@apolloglobal The bigger shift here isn’t just one product. It’s dentistry moving from surgical → restorative medicine. From “remove the damage” → “regenerate the tissue.” The drill had a 150-year run. Its replacement just became a unicorn.