Tech Roundup: Capsules to prevent hangovers

Welcome to our Tech Roundup, where we bring you the biggest stories in technology and innovation in Brazil and Latin America. This week: Novvo’s product promises to help many Brazilians enjoy Carnival without a hangover.

A molecular way to avoid hangovers during Carnival?

With long work days that extended into endless happy hours, Felipe Rebelatto wanted to find out how nutrition could help him deal with his hectic routine when he worked at a major consultancy about a decade ago. Over time, tests with imported vitamin supplements and conversations with scientists turned into serious research, and then into business. 

The formula of his product, Novvo, got the green light from Brazil’s health regulator, Anvisa, in 2019. Two years later, after delays caused by the Covid pandemic and more research, the ideal solution was reached. The startup, co-founded by Mr. Rebelatto and his colleague at the consultancy Rodrigo Hidaka, started production and launched their product at a Vogue ball in 2022. Their promise? To prevent hangovers.

How it works. Novvo’s pre-drink supplement, consisting of three capsules, contains a molecule capable of absorbing and neutralizing up to 58 percent of the acetaldehyde circulating in the body. Acetaldehyde is the substance formed when the liver metabolizes alcohol and is seven times more toxic than the alcohol itself — hence,...