Personal care brand seeks to disrupt wellness market with acquisition

Sustainable personal care brand Grüum has acquired a majority stake in personalised vitamin and supplement supplier Everly Wellness.

Taking a majority share in the business, Stockport-based Grüum has invested a “six figure sum” to acquire the supplement brand, as part of plans to “disrupt” the personal care industry. 

Bringing Everly into the Grüum portfolio will see the brand supported by the expertise of the four co-founders and their team make a move in the vitamin and wellness market.

Established in 2016 by four co-owners Simon Leonard, Andy Shaw, Beth Sleigh and George Lagonikas – who met and worked together at The Gourmet Society, which Leonard sold to a Dutch business DIDIX backed by Waterland Private Equity in 2014 as part of a wider deal valued at over £100m, as reported on TheBusinessDesk.com at the time.

Leonard is also a non-executive director of Just Bee, the first vitamin enhanced honey product in the UK, and The Reward Partners network which brings together leading UK e-commerce brands to get new customers.

After completing their earn outs, the entrepreneurial foursome set their sights on a new venture with a plan to disrupt the billion dollar beauty industry by bringing sustainable, genderless products to the masses with premium products at affordable prices.

Grüum has created a range of sustainable, gender neutral personal care products including razors, skincare, haircare, bodycare and dental. 

The Stockport headquartered brand started out with its core team of four and now employs close to 40 employees. 

Grüum has acquired Everly as part of a bid to expand in 2023 by 30%. It currently sells 150 different products, including plastic-free shampoo bars which shipped close to 500,000 units in 2022. 

Based in Surrey, Everly was created by brothers Jason and Dexter Grima in 2017 and sells personalised vitamin and supplement subscriptions delivered in daily pouches for ease and convenience. 

Andy Shaw, co-founder of Grüum, commented: “Everly is a perfect addition to our growing group as Grüum continues to expand.

“Everly’s range of premium wellness products and their proprietary personalisation technology will really help us to strengthen and extend our D2C proposition and bolster our ambitious growth plans as we continue to be an agile and dynamic ecommerce brand that disrupts the mainstream narrative in the personal care category.

“Everly’s founders Jason and Dexter have created a brilliant service that helps so many to get the vitamins and supplements they really need and are personally tailored for them. We look forward to working with both Jason and Dexter as they continue to support the growth of the business in advisory roles, and we push the brand on its trajectory to become one of the market leaders for tailored nutrition and wellness.”

Jason Grima, co-founder of Everly, commented: “As a family run business, Everly was born from an idea we both had that quickly turned into a successful brand with a loyal audience turning to us for their vitamin and supplement needs.

“We’re pleased to see Everly become part of the Grüum group and join Andy and the team as they continue to offer premium products focused on health and wellbeing. We will continue to stay close to Everly as advisors and look forward to watching it transition into its next stage of growth with the Grüum team at the helm.”