Halle Berry, the Oscar-winning actress, and director, has announced a major career change that might surprise her fans. The 56-year-old star has joined Pendulum Therapeutics, a San Francisco-based biotech startup that produces probiotics for various health conditions, as the chief communications officer, an equity owner and an investor.
Pendulum Therapeutics was co-founded by CEO Colleen Cutcliffe, CTO James Bullard, and chief scientific officer John Eid in 2013 and has received more than $121 million in funding from the likes of the Mayo Clinic, True Ventures, and Sequoia Capital. The company’s flagship product is Glucose Control, a formula containing five strains of probiotics that aim to help individuals with Type 2 diabetes regulate their blood sugar levels by stimulating the body’s natural production of GLP-1, a hormone that lowers blood glucose.
Berry, who has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at a young age and has managed her condition through diet and exercise, said she has used Pendulum’s products herself for over a year and has seen positive results. She also said that working with Pendulum will be her second act and that she is done being the dancing bear in Hollywood.
“I am beyond excited to join the brilliant and thoughtful Pendulum team,” Berry said in a statement. “We all know how tough it can be to break through the noise and find the healthy practices that truly work best for you and your body. My hope is that in this new role, I can help others discover this incredible product and begin their journeys towards a more holistic and healthy life.”
Berry also spoke at Bloomberg’s technology summit on Thursday, where she revealed that she has other projects in the works, but not in the entertainment industry. “I feel like I will always be an actor,” she said. “That’s my first love. But I also realize that, as I go down this path of life, I have other interests and I have other things that I absolutely believe in, and I want to use my voice and I want to use my creativity in other ways.”
Cutcliffe praised Berry for her passion and dedication to Pendulum’s mission. She also said that the company welcomes more regulation in the probiotics space to ensure quality and safety for consumers. “We’d all love to have more regulation in the space. And especially as this grows, I do think it’s the responsibility of the industry to make sure that people aren’t being fooled,” Cutcliffe said.
Berry is not the only celebrity who has ventured into the tech world. Matthew McConaughey, for example, is a creative adviser at Salesforce, while Ashton Kutcher is a well-known investor in startups like Airbnb and Uber. However, Berry’s move signals a more significant shift in her career trajectory and a desire for a more meaningful impact in her new role.
Relevant articles:
– A-list star Halle Berry pivots fully to tech exec at San Francisco startup Pendulum, SFGATE, June 23, 2023
– Halle Berry x Pendulum Launch 2023, Harper’s BAZAAR, February 14, 2023
– Halle Berry Pitches Sequoia-Backed Probiotics Health Startup Pendulum, Bloomberg, June 23, 2023
– Halle Berry Has a New Job Advising a Probiotics Company, WWD, February 9, 2023