Science nerd and ex-athlete turn a hydration supplement into a million dollar business

A $140,000 investment by two Aussies is set to pay dividends with the pair’s start-up taking the hydration world by storm with a target to turn over $50m by 2030.

Two founders with a “simple solution” to hydration are looking to disrupt the trillion dollar wellness market as they set an ambitious revenue target of $50 million by 2030.

A 2024 global wellness institute report places the global wellness economy annual growth rate at 9.9 per cent, with projections the wellness sector to reach $12.9 trillion by 2031.

Vitadrop was founded in 2018, by Charlie Wood, 31 and Dan Concannon, 34 and have formulated a water-based vitamin supplement to improve hydration in consumers and has since sold over 2,300,000 units.

Mr Wood has a background in marketing and biomedical science and Mr Concannon is an ex-athlete and said it was his diagnosis of “auto-immune condition in 2009” that drove him to dig deeper into preventive methods.

Vitadrop was founded in 2018, by Charlie Wood, 31 and Dan Concannon, 34. Picture: supplied

“I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which sort of led me into a deeper rabbit hole in terms of preventive health and sort of getting ahead of the curve rather than waiting for a symptom and fixing – that is essentially where the hydration space has been for the last 40 years,” Mr Concannon said.

Vitadrop has launched 11 science-backed products, four of which are listed with the Therapeutics Goods Administration.

“We are redefining the hydration category in Australia. People are dehydrated and deficient in micronutrients due to their modern lifestyles,” Mr Wood said.

“Proper hydration is a lifelong commitment needed for healthy ageing and the prevention of chronic diseases.”

Mr Wood said the pair invested $140,000 into their start-up, and is on track to hit $2m by the end of the year and has set an ambitious target to turn over $50m in revenue in the next six years.

Mr Wood said the hydration category is rapidly becoming the major focus in the supplements sector, and said the brand has had “quick success” since launching into Coles, Coles Express and Woolworths across the country.

“With retailers and brands like us educating consumers that proper hydration needs to start at a young age,” Mr Wood said.

The pair invested $140,000 into their start-up, with projections the brand will turn over $50 million in revenue the next six years. Picture: supplied

“We sort of got some quick success there – because they were looking for younger brands that represented a younger audience.”

Mr Wood said to enable the start-up to keep up with the rapid working-capital demands, Mr Wood secured trade and invoice financing facilities to support our rapid scale-up via FIFO capital.

“FIFO support around working capital. We then funded the brand-building side of the business ourselves through the exit of our old agency and via some friends and family providing capital,” Mr Wood said.

Vitadrop is 100 per cent Australian made and owned employing 115 Australians in their manufacturing sites in Victoria and Queensland.

Mr Wood said it takes “12 weeks from start to finish to produce the product and move the supplements into the supply chain”.

Vitadrop is 100 per cent Australian made and owned, with manufacturing sites in Victoria and Queensland. Picture: supplied

“It’s very important to find best-in-class manufacturing, packaging and raw materials suppliers given that our products are ingestible dietary supplements with efficacy,” he said.

Mr Wood said in the initial stages of operations Vitadrop incurred “a few failed attempts” for manufacturing partners.

“There is more responsibility to ensure all products are safe and actually work. We had a few failed attempts at finding the right kind of manufacturing partners when we launched, given we couldn’t visit the facilities through aspects of Covid-19,” Mr Wood said.

With plans to expand into the international market, Mr Wood said he plans to continue having both manufacturing and supply based in Australia.

“We are a hydration and supplements brand and those hydration supplements that we’ve made are very good to manufacture in Australia and ship globally - because they are cheap to ship,” Mr Wood said.

“Our plans are to be an Australian-made brand and then export into the Middle East, Hong Kong, New Zealand and then South East Asia, the UK and ultimately the US – and we will do that out of manufacturing facilities in Australia.”