Manchester trio secure £110k investment and set sights on America

Manchester-based nutrition supplement start-up Yumi is planning to expand to the North American market.

It was founded less than two years ago by friends, fitness and nutrition enthusiasts Sebastien Vanderlinden, Adam Barker and Joshua Margetts after spotting a gap in the market for chewable gummy vitamins and supplements.

While all still working in full-time jobs the friends took a chance on their first two products, sleep and multivitamin gummies, which proved popular enough to spur the trio into quitting their jobs and broadening the product offering to include a hair and probiotic gummy.

Now, after a stellar first year in business which has seen the venture sell more than 10,000 bottles, equalling around 600,000 gummies, the young entrepreneurs have now set their sights on the American market.

And their success has attracted the attention of FYG Syndicate, a recently-formed angel investment company led by Philip Jones and Jon Kalmar, who have made a significant investment in the business.

This month Yumi took up 1,100 sq ft of office space in North Manchester, with plans to grow their team and expand their product line with an additional six products ready for market in early 2019 – when they are already on course for £1m turnover.

Chief executive Sebastien Vanderlinden said: “It’s been an incredible 18 months in business so far, especially the last few months, from moving into our own office space and partnering with our new investors.

“The investment is going to allow us to grow at a much quicker pace, not only building out our product line but to move faster into the American market, which has always been our dream.

“$1 out every $3 spent on the global supplements and vitamin market is spent in America, so the opportunities for growth are huge.”

He added: “We’re all extremely excited for what this next part of our journey holds.”