UK-based startup Get A Drip is on a mission to make IV nutrition therapy more accessible, enabling people to achieve optimal body well-being. Backed by Nigel Wray, the former chairman of Saracens Rugby Club, the startup is picking up attention as it shakes up the wellness industry.
Athlete or not, feeling at optimum wellness in your body is something we all want. Being full of energy, feeling strong and healthy. Across society, many people take time to go to the gym, watch their diet and take supplements, all in the pursuit of feeling well.
As a result, the wellness industry is a pretty lucrative one – and sometimes it can be pretty problematic. Competing claims and a spread of false information around the efficacy and utility of certain supplements, vitamins and so forth abound. It means that many are turning to more clinical options for supplementing the body, opting for drips, injections and diagnostic tests. These options, however, are costly and generally accessible only in hospitals or when someone is already ill as a result of poor health and nutrition.
Aiming to shake the wellness industry up for good and democratize access to clinical nutrition therapy is Hertfordshire-based Get A Drip. After scoring the attention of a bigwig in the UK rugby scene, Nigel Wray, the startup is ready to expand with a fresh cash injection.
Funding details
The English startup has just secured about €4.5 million in Series A funding. Nigel Wray, former chairman of Saracens Rugby Club, led the funding. The raise also saw investment from former Holland & Barrett CEO Tony Buffin.
Nigel is a keen investor, also having supported Domino’s Pizza which is one of the UK’s most successful franchise-based businesses of the last 25 years.
With the raise, the wellness startup will drive its franchise expansion with plans to launch a further 28 clinics in the next 3-12 months, including a brand-new flagship clinic on King’s Road in Chelsea and overseas across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Australia.
Get A Drip CEO and founder Richard Chambers: “To have investors with the experience of Nigel and Tony on board shows how far we have come in a short space of time, and their support and advice will no doubt only further our ambitious growth plans, building out our franchise portfolio and driving the business forward. I also cannot wait to open our new HQ in Letchworth in giving back to the local community where I live and grew up.”
Democratizing access to IV therapy
Founded in 2017 by Richard Chambers, Get A Drip has a genuine goal of providing an alternative, more efficient and cost-effective way for people to supplement their diet to meet the extensive list of vitamins and minerals required to maintain optimum bodily function.
The startup was developed following Richard’s own struggle with accessing treatment. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2010 on his 18th birthday, Richard found himself in intensive care three years later suffering from major complications. It began a journey which proved to be the start of a seven-year period in and out of the hospital due to a weakened immune system.
It was his time in the hospital, overwhelmed by the benefits of IV treatment as a major factor in his recovery, that acted as the catalyst for setting up the business.
Determined to provide a more accessible alternative, providing treatments that are not just available in hospitals or for the super-wealthy.
Richard explained: “When I set up Get A Drip five years ago the goal was to democratize the IV Drip space having felt the benefits first-hand. To now be at a point where we’re looking even further beyond that, and at how we can make a whole suite of wellness technologies more accessible to consumers to improve their wellbeing is really exciting.”
The company offers affordable vitamin drips and booster shots with prices starting at £30. Get A Drip was the UK’s first vitamin drip company to offer a DNA testing service, launched in February 2019, analyzing genetic responses to nutrients, and offering a personalized drip based on customers’ unique genetic makeup. Alongside Get A Drip’s Signature Drip – which provides an effective all-around long-lasting hit of vitamins and minerals – other bestsellers include their Energy Drip, Immunity Drip and Detox Drip, priced at £150 each.
IV drips are used to rebalance the body’s natural vitamin levels helping to cleanse it of toxins, boost the immune system, replenish energy levels and optimize your day-to-day well-being. The IM (intramuscular) vitamin injections and booster shots help to rebalance the body’s natural vitamin levels to optimize your day-to-day well-being. It is a simple injection procedure that is quick to administer, fast acting and effective because it bypasses the gastrointestinal tract.
The wellness industry is growing massively, with the IV therapy & vein access markets and supplements markets valued at $54.9 billion and $163.9 billion respectively.
Nigel Wray: “Looking at the research we know over a third of the UK population supplement their diet with daily vitamins too, so the market is there. I think there’s huge untapped potential in the way in which Get A Drip is democratizing wellness services to open up accessibility beyond the super wealthy and in hospitals. The business’ growth to date has been impressive and I’m looking forward to working with Richard and the team to help them continue on this path in the long-term.”
Already with more than 35 medical professionals having administered over 40,000 vitamin drips and intramuscular (IM) booster Shots, and seven ground-breaking clinics now open across London, Dublin and Rotterdam, as well as six mobile clinics servicing anywhere within the M25, the North East and the South East of England.
With this funding, the company plans to expand its franchise rollout as well as the services available. Cryotherapy, ozone, hyperbaric oxygen and red-light therapies are among the ground-breaking technologies to come. As per their current extensive offering of market-leading vitamin drips, vitamin injections and diagnostics, the new technologies will match industry-leading standards and provide the highest-quality service on the market as Get A Drip looks to further democratize the wellness industry.
Richard added: “Our vitamin drips provide an alternative, more efficient and cost-effective way for people to supplement their diet to meet the extensive list of vitamins and minerals required to maintain optimum bodily function, and this raise furthers our commitment to delivering the very best wellness treatments to consumers, available at the most accessible price points, in the long-term.”
