Miami has a track record of turning wellness ideas into everyday routines long before the rest of the country catches on. From cold plunges to IV drips, our city has never been shy about trying the next thing that promises to make people feel better, faster. What’s new is the focus on something everyone does nonstop but almost never thinks about: breathing.
That’s the premise behind Climatic, a New York/South Florida startup that believes lung health should be treated like hydration or sleep, not something reserved for doctor visits and emergencies. The company recently emerged from stealth with a $10 million seed round led by Lerer Hippeau, following more than three years of respiratory research.
Eric Kau, Climatic’s co-founder and CEO, spent more than a decade building consumer brands at Chewy, Amazon, and later Seed Health. But over time, his work began to overlap with personal experience.
“I’ve spent the last twelve to fourteen years building consumer brands, consumer platforms, and over the last five to six years, really honed in on human health,” he told Refresh Miami. His time at Seed, he added, revealed “this swath of academic research and scientific infrastructure that exists in the United States to build products that are not drugs and bring things to market that have efficacy.”
Breathing also hit close to home. Sleep apnea runs in Kau’s family, and he began to see early signs himself. “Breathing is a big part of that,” he said in the interview. “So when I just started to discover the science related to the product that we’re bringing to market, it obviously struck a chord.”
Climatic’s first product, L Max, is designed to fit into daily life rather than medical routines. It’s a dry powder inhaled supplement meant to support the lungs’ natural ability to clear out particles from pollution, smoke, and other environmental stressors.
“This isn’t vaporized. There’s no heating component,” Kau explained. “It’s a natural inhalation, breath actualized powder.”
The science behind it is serious, even if the habit it aims to create is simple. Climatic conducted in vivo studies with Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida that showed improved mucus clearance, a key process for long-term lung function. Human studies are ongoing.
Investors were drawn to both timing and scale. “What resonated with investors is the size of the category,” Kau said. “We live in an increasingly built and industrialized world, and that industrialized world is having a more negative impact on our overall health.” He also pointed to growing awareness around breath and performance, helped along by wearables and metrics people now track daily.
While Climatic operates as a hybrid company, Kau has deep ties to South Florida, having moved to Miami more than a decade ago. He credits the region’s growing startup network and post-pandemic influx of capital for creating space for ideas like this to take hold.
Climatic plans to launch L Max in late spring 2026, but the bigger ambition goes beyond a single product. “In ten years, taking care of your lungs will be as routine as brushing your teeth,” co-founder Allie Melnick said in a statement announcing the company’s launch. If Miami’s track record with wellness trends is any indication, that future may arrive here sooner than expected.
Pictured above: Climatic co-founders Eric Kau and Allie Melnick.
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