Earlier this year we covered the launch of Heights, a new supplements startup in an increasingly hot category. Feel is a year-old U.K. startup with another twist on this world: pure nutritional supplements. It’s now closed a $6.2 million investment, led by Fuel Ventures, with participation from TMT Investments, Sova VC, Richard Longhurst (founder of LoveHoney.com) and Igor Ryabenkiy (founder and GP of Altair Capital).
Feel founder Boris Hodakel says he spun up his startup after looking at the U.K.’s big health and retail brands, including Graze, Tesco, Bulk Powders and Simba Sleep.
In many ways Feel is akin to Graze. The supplements arrive in a post-box-friendly box and are available in a range of subscription packages. This is basically “Graze nuts, but for supplements.”
Feel has a direct-to-consumer subscription model, and is claiming a 60x growth in its first year and 21,000 active subscriptions.
Hodakel’s contention is that while Feel provides higher-grade supplements to consumers, which cost more to produce, it manages to keep costs down for consumers via direct-to-consumer model.
Hodakel, founder and CEO of Feel, said: “Not all vitamins are created equal and the majority you find on retail shelves have a dirty formula that is difficult to absorb by the body, missing natural elements. We’re the cleanest alternative in the market — backed up by science — and continually invest in making our formulas as effective as possible while still affordable.”
He says he started Feel because, having a skin problem, supplements were part of his health routine, but “the aha moment” happened when he realized how many fillers were in normal supplements. “All our formulas are researched and formulated in-house, and we keep updating them, like our flagship multivitamin in just two years is already in its third version,” he said.
Mark Pearson, managing partner at Fuel Ventures added: “The growth and the expansion of Feel’s product line present a really exciting time for Feel and we are supporting them in becoming a significant disruptor to the health supplement market.”
Alexander Chikunov, partner at Sova VC added, “Feel is in the process of disrupting consumer habits around vitamin intake, and changing a marketplace worth $144 billion by providing its customers with top-quality products, combined with flawless and friendly service.”