Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett has taken part in a $10m investment round into a New York-based wellness start-up.
The entrepreneur, who co-founded Social Chain in Manchester with Dominic McGregor, has also taken a seat on the board of The Healing Company.
The business was co-founded by former IMG Model and supplement entrepreneur Anabel Oelmann alongside former Jet.com and Equinox Media president Simon Belsham.
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Wellness icon Deepak Chopra has also taken a stake in the business as well as psychedelics entrepreneur Christian Angermayer.
Other investors include Social Chain CEO Wanja S. Oberhof and Avant Global founder Demetri Argyropoulos.
Writing on LinkedIn, Mr Bartlett said: “I’m deeply passionate about bringing holistic medicine to the world. Deepak Chopra is a world leader in this area, glad to have him in the team.”
Over the next three years, the company plans to buy and scale more than 15 direct-to-consumer brands, starting in the holistic medicine and supplements space.
Mr Chopra added: “The world is ready for substantial change. The system today is focused on treating sickness, yet 95% of disease is preventable and caused by lifestyle factors.
“We need true healing, a return to wholeness. An integrated approach embracing both the conventional and alternative has never been more needed.”
Mr Belsham said: “The appetite for new solutions and fresh thinking is immense, with the global wellness market projected to reach $7Tn by 2025 and growth accelerating due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We want to use this momentum and become the driving force in scaling and consolidating this market segment.”
Anabel Oelmann added: “Our aim is to help incredible healing brands, products, and leaders have more impact on the world.
“The power of what we can achieve as a community—a movement—working to evolve health and healing is immense.”
The $10m seed round is being supplemented by a $75m credit facility from tech investor i80 Group.
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