Vitamin drinks maker Tonic Health is planning a £400k funding push to scale up operations in the UK and revolutionise the natural health category.
The startup is looking to secure the cash in a blend between an institutional raise – including VC and angel investors – and a later crowdfunding campaign planned towards the end of March.
“We are looking to do it all because there are benefits to each methodology of fundraising,” founder Sunna van Kampen told The Grocer.
“For a product like ours, there is a brand benefit in crowdfunding to get people behind our mission of revolutionising a category that hasn’t been touched for a long time.”
Tonic, which is open to exceed its target up to around £600k, will use the funds to build the foundation for the business after launching in November 2019.
The cash will cover new hires and marketing expense, van Kampen said. It would need to carry out a “big education job in the market” to explain the point of difference between Tonic’s and other cold and flu products, he added.
He explained that the brand’s 100% natural, high-dose vitamin drinks were designed to help customers recover from a cold or the flu, rather than just provide symptomatic relief.
Tonic’s two variants – Lemon & Honey and Elderberry & Blackcurrant – are currently stocked on Ocado and distributed by pharmaceutical wholesaler AAH.
Two bigger unnamed retailers have also been secured to launch in April and September 2020 respectively, while future plans include entering the US market in 2021.
Van Kampen concluded: “My aim is to have a strong foothold in the market with good distribution nationally so we can really start to educate the market. We are not just about having a better-for-you product, we want to shift an approach from relief-only to recovery.”
Ex-regional MD of L’Oréal Asia Peter Tighe, who backed the brand in the round, said: “Consumer trends in health and wellbeing are shifting and Tonic is perfectly placed in its category to capitalise through an excellent product and team dynamic.”
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