Illuminate Labs - Enhancing Consumer Safety For Dietary Supplements

Working to establish transparency and good practice in the growing industry of dietary supplements

The Problem

The U.S. supplement industry is unregulated: As a consumer, you may have no idea what’s actually in the bottle you ordered. Manufacturers of supplements are notorious for producing contaminated products. Just this year in 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recalled all products from three individual contract manufacturers, which supply 850 supplement brands.

What the Company Does

Illuminate Labs only sells products that pass testing against European Union limits, which are the strictest in the world. Third-party labs are also brought in to test the supplements to ensure no economic bias. Illuminate Labs publishes the test results, which are accessible on each product page for consumers to see. Illuminate’s goal is to lead by providing consumers with higher quality products they can trust.

Market

The global dietary supplements market was estimated at $136 billion in 2019. Competitors in the supplement space are high-end brands like Thorne Research, Pure Encapsulations, and Elysium Health. Illuminate Labs isunique in that no other dietary supplements company in the U.S. tests their products against E.U. limits, validates products with an unbiased third-party, and shares the results directly with consumers.

Traction

Since launching in mid-March, Illuminate Labs has sold just shy of 100 bottles as of early June. They currently sell online both through their website and Amazon. In addition, Illuminate has recently partnered with an internal Google team who will be executing a pay-per-click campaign. The team has also recruited several advisors with MDs and Ph.Ds, along with a blog editor who has an MD.

Founding Team

Founder Calloway Cook started Illuminate Labs as a frustrated consumer of dietary supplements. He was taking supplements to alleviate high-blood pressure, but couldn’t get a single company to send an up-to-date test result of the product they were selling. Concerned with the purity of the products he was consuming daily, and after hearing many people online and in-person voicing the same concerns, he decided to launch Illuminate Labs as the solution to the transparency and safety issues in the dietary supplements industry.

What They Need Help With

Illuminate labs is currently aiming to raise a second funding round. They are also looking for introductions that could help them grow internationally, especially in Asia. Connect with the Illuminate Labs team.

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