Turning multiple pills to microgranules: Startup set to deliver personalised ‘all-in-one’ nutrition
Developed in partnership with nutritionists and health supplement brand MyVeggie, the personalised blends provide up to 25 nutrients in a daily sachet of microgranules and are created based on answers received from health and lifestyle questionnaires.
The company is set to launch its home delivered subscription boxes and online nutrition platform later this month (February 2024).
Market gap for simple supplements
Paul-Antoine Richard and Alessandro Mambrini met working together at Amazon in Luxembourg and discovered their shared interest in health and sports nutrition. After struggling to understand and solve their own nutritional needs, they founded Riise to fill a gap that they identified in the EU market for all-in-one personalised supplements.
"On my side, I went through a transformation in terms of my relationship with health over the past two years," Richard told NutraIngredients. "I lost 20 kilos, started doing sports pretty seriously and took part in things like the Berlin Marathon. Whilst Alessandro is a former pro-athlete."
"From there you quickly get into the midst of supplements to get energy and optimal nutrition for running. It’s really a cheat code, right? If you have good nutrition, your body keeps going, and if it doesn’t, your body stops. That’s true in your life and at work as well," he added.
He said they realised the difficulty in finding the correct supplements for their individual needs, with many supplements only providing a few of the ingredients they needed.
Although personalised supplements were growing as a trend in Europe, they still couldn’t find a solution that worked for them.
"We faced the problems that every person faces when it comes to wellness – how do I sleep well, how do I manage my stress, how is nutrition playing a role here?" Mambrini added. "We wanted to put something together to help not just us, but everyone."
Personalised service
Riise’s personalised service involves the initial completion of a five-minute health test to provide personal information on anthropometrics, lifestyle, diet, habits and health goals such as weight loss, sports performance optimisation or focus improvement.
This generates a personalised supplement containing 25 different nutrients specific to individual needs and goals, including vitamins, minerals and botanicals such as ashwagandha and curcumin.
Dosages are determined using microgram measurements, delivering the supplement in microgranule form which can be consumed with water or sprinkled over meals. Richard explained this format is commonly used in the pharmaceutical industry and ensures delivery of a high number of nutrients, prevents their interaction with each other, and enables their controlled release within the intestine.
As part of an optional monthly subscription, members can expand their personalisation journey with nutritional advice provided through Riise’s online platform and are encouraged to update test answers monthly to adjust supplement composition.
"When we started to develop the idea of having an algorithm, we wanted first of all to start from the needs of people and the goals they have," Mambrini explained. "So, we offer performance support but also goals related to a more general sense of wellness."
These include a wide spectrum of areas such as building stress and anxiety resilience, improving sleep, and supporting skin and hair health, as well as identifying and resolving nutrient deficiencies following completion of the in-depth dietary assessment.
"But another important part we cover is related to lifestyle factors such as sun exposure and activity level, because in the algorithm we also build micro models for each nutrient based on who you are, which varies depending on biological data, age, anthropometric measurements and habits," he added.
Regarding the key audience for the supplements, he explained that in addition to the B2C platform, Riise is also available to professionals such as nutritionists, dieticians and personal trainers for referrals to reach a wider demographic.
