Laura Modi

Laura Modi is an Irish-American executive and the co-founder and CEO of Bobbie. Before Bobbie, she was director of hospitality at Airbnb.

Laura Modi
Born	1985 or 1986 (age 39–40)[1] Westport, Ireland
Occupation	CEO of Bobbie

Early career

Modi began her career at Portwest, a workwear and personal protective equipment business run by her family and founded by her great-grandfather in Ireland.^[2]

Bobbie

Modi originally had the idea to found an organic infant formula company in 2016, when she was seeking formula to feed her first child^[3] that excluded palm oil and corn syrup from the ingredients.^[4] Over the next 18 months, she researched the industry and possible recipes,^[5] finding that the last significant U.S. Food and Drug Administration update to formula nutritional standards occurred in the 1980s.^[4][6] Modi self-funded the company with funds from savings and consultancy work^[7] Modi hired her past Airbnb colleague Sarah Hardy, who joined as co-founder in 2019.^[1]

In May 2019, an early pilot of Bobbie's formula led to a FDA inspection and a recall due to noncompliant labeling. Modi updated Bobbie's supply chain, partnering with Perrigo on manufacturing,^[2] and relaunched its "European-style" infant formula in compliance with FDA guidelines in January 2021.^[8] Bobbie's revenue grew to $100 million by 2023,^[9] even though Modi had made the decision to pause new customer registrations for six months during the 2022 United States infant formula shortage.^[5] In July 2023, Modi led Bobbie's acquisition of Nature's One, another formula brand, funded in part by a $70 million funding round raised by Modi.^[9]

As part of Bobbie's workplace culture, Modi prioritizes providing robust leave and job security to new parents.^[1][10] She also set up Bobbie For Change,^[1] the company's advocacy arm.^[11]

Recognition

Modi was named one of Time’s Women of the Year for 2025.^[12]