Rose Launches to Bring At-Home Water Testing, ‘Exposure Health’ to Wellness

Founded by former Ghia executive Henry Ellis and entrepreneur Eli Bronner, Rose’s $399 at-home water test screens for more than 100 contaminants

As consumers increasingly turn to diagnostics and personalized health testing, concerns about microplastics, PFAS and other environmental contaminants are opening up a new area of opportunity for wellness brands.

Rose, a new exposure-health startup from former Ghia executive Henry Ellis and entrepreneur Eli Bronner, launched today with a $399 at-home water test designed to help consumers better understand what’s coming out of their taps.

The test screens for more than 100 contaminants, including PFAS, pesticides, heavy metals, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and disinfection byproducts. Customers collect a single tap-water sample, send it to a partner laboratory and receive their results through an online dashboard, along with personalized recommendations for addressing potential concerns.

The launch comes as environmental exposure is receiving more attention from consumers. In April, the Environmental Protection Agency included microplastics in its draft list of drinking-water contaminants for further research and potential regulation for the first time. The agency also included PFAS and pharmaceuticals among the contaminants under consideration. Rose’s test does not currently list microplastics among the contaminants for which it screens.

From Ghia to Water Safety

Rose was founded by Bronner, who previously co-founded healthcare technology company Lua, later acquired by Life Biosciences, and Ellis, a founding partner and former chief operating officer and chief product officer of nonalcoholic beverage brand Ghia.

The longtime friends began developing the concept after both became parents and started questioning the quality of the water they were drinking and giving their children.

“Growing awareness of PFAS, pesticides and heavy metals is making people realize that what’s in their water matters,” the founders told Athletech News. “But a lot of what they find online is built around fear.”

Ellis previously helped build Ghia as the nonalcoholic beverage category gained traction, and sees similarities between the two ventures.

“The lesson I took from Ghia is that the best products come from a need you’ve felt yourself,” Ellis said. “When nothing out there solves it, you try and build it, and focus on every element until it’s the version you always wanted.”

The idea for Rose came in part from the difficulty of determining whether a household actually needs a water filter and, if so, which one.

“Even finding the right water filter was a pain, especially once I realized I didn’t know what problem I was solving for,” Ellis noted.

A New Approach to Water Testing

While consumers can access water-quality reports from local utilities, those reports don’t necessarily reflect the water coming out of their own taps.

“The biggest misconception is that water quality is one size fits all, or that a city-level report tells you exactly what’s coming out of your tap,” the founders told ATN “Utility data is valuable, but water travels through service lines and your home’s own plumbing.”

Unlike some existing testing options that require separate panels for PFAS and other contaminants, Rose combines broad contaminant screening and PFAS analysis in a single test.

The test was developed with a scientific advisory board spanning environmental health, toxicology, chemistry and water safety, including researchers affiliated with Mount Sinai, Duke University and the American Chemical Society’s Green Chemistry Institute.

According to Rose, its testing methods build on established EPA protocols while incorporating techniques designed to detect contaminants at lower concentrations.

The company is also taking a “test before you treat” approach, encouraging consumers to understand their water quality before investing in filtration systems and to retest afterward to determine whether those systems are working.

Beyond Water Testing

Rose plans to expand beyond drinking water, with a biomarker product focused on environmental exposure expected to launch in early 2027. The company is also exploring air, mold and consumer-product testing.

Its approach draws on exposomics, a growing field of research examining how environmental exposures, from the air people breathe to the chemicals they encounter, may influence long-term health.

The expansion would take Rose beyond traditional water testing and into a wider range of consumer health services, as interest grows in understanding environmental factors that aren’t typically captured by wearables or routine blood tests.

“We don’t think everyone needs another product or another reason to worry about their water,” the founders said. “But people do need to know what they’re dealing with.”

Rose’s Water Test is available for $399 on its website, with a two-tap bundle also available for testing water from different locations within a home.