Q&A: Theorem on launching daily wellness shots for supplementation without friction

Co-founders Grayson Lutin and Matthew Gold met as undergraduates at The University of Florida. After graduation, Lutin went on to work in commercial real estate and Gold to study medicine at Nova Southeastern University, but they had not lost sight of the passion for an idea sparked in college around creating a simple supplement solution that did away with the need to juggle “hectic supplement stacks” of pills, powders and protocols.

Working with a team of researchers and formulators, they developed an initial set of 2-oz wellness shots that target core, overlapping need states as part of a system that aims to rethink and streamline supplementation. While Theorem is keeping the specific breakdown of formulas secret for now, ingredients include Cognizin (citicoline), L-theanine, ElevATP, GutGard, CyanthOx (30%), biotin, B-complex vitamins, among others.

As Theorem prepares for a broader launch and continues to build out its library of formulas designed around “real human behavior”, Lutin discusses the vision and work that has gone into building the brand and what comes next for the supplement start-up.

The company is one of this year’s NutraIngredients-USA Start-up Stars that will be featured at the upcoming Sports and Active Nutrition Summit taking place in San Diego from Feb. 18 to 20.

NI: Could you share a bit about your backgrounds and why you decided to move into the supplement space?

GL: Matt and I came into the supplement space through lived frustration, but from different angles.

I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at 15, which pushed me early on to pay close attention to nutrition and supplementation. Over the years, I cycled through countless routines (pills, powders, etc.) and kept running into the same issue: The system felt overly complicated. Even when products were high quality, the routines were hard to sustain. It became clear to me that consistency, not intent, was the real challenge.

Matt’s background is both clinical and creative. He’s currently in medical school, which has only reinforced his interest in how health concepts actually play out in everyday life. In 2020, he helped create and lead a design studio and has always had a strong passion for creative work and visual systems. As he learned more about medicine, he became increasingly proactive about applying that knowledge to his own health. Yet, he ran into the same friction I did. The issue wasn’t product quality. It was the system making consistency harder than it needed to be. We were college roommates, and our mornings became a clear reflection of that problem. Too many bottles, too many powders, and too many decisions, all tied to something that was supposed to support our health. If we were struggling with this, it was hard to believe we were alone.

Matt raised the idea of consolidating everything into a simpler daily solution. That sparked a lot of deeper thinking around format and behavior, not just ingredients. Rather than creating another supplement, we started asking a more fundamental question: How do you make daily wellness something people can actually integrate into their lives without friction?

That thinking ultimately led us to daily wellness shots, a format that doesn’t get much attention in the space despite its simplicity and strong compliance advantages. That’s what started Theorem. The goal wasn’t to add another product to the supplement aisle, but to simplify the daily wellness experience in a way that actually fits into people’s lives, so consistency becomes the default rather than the challenge.

NI: What opportunity did you identify in the market, and who is your target consumer?

GL: What stood out to us wasn’t a lack of products, but a lack of coherence. The supplement market is saturated, yet most people are left to assemble their own routines with very little guidance. Even highly health-conscious individuals end up juggling pills, powders and protocols that are difficult to maintain day to day. Over time, consistency breaks down, not because people don’t care, but because the system asks too much of them. We also noticed the opposite problem. A lot of people want to get into supplementation but don’t know where to start. The space can feel intimidating, and without clear direction, people either overcomplicate things or disengage entirely.

That gap revealed the opportunity. We weren’t interested in creating another one-size-fits-all product. The goal was to build something that could be tailored around an individual’s health goals while still being simple enough to fit into daily life.

Our target consumer reflects that balance. It includes people who are already active and invested in their health but want a more streamlined routine, as well as people who are newer to the space and want a clear, approachable way to get started without managing something overly complex.

NI: Why do you think wellness shots have been overlooked? Are there challenges with this format?

GL: Liquid wellness shots are challenging to execute well, especially when you’re working with functional ingredients rather than juice-forward formulations.

Many shots on the market today are largely juice-based, with minimal active ingredients. Bringing clinically relevant ingredients into a consolidated liquid format introduces challenges around taste, stability, and ingredient interaction. That’s where we’ve spent the past year focusing our efforts—making sure the format works without compromising the experience.

NI: What has gone into building the brand? Could you share a bit about your funding story and your path to market?

GL: In the early stages of building Theorem, most of the work went into thinking about how the product shows up in someone’s day. That includes how it’s used and how it feels to interact with. We’ve been intentional about keeping the brand clean and focused, avoiding unnecessary layers or complexity that don’t add value to the experience.

We bootstrapped the company at the start, then raised a small pre-seed round to kick off R&D and run an initial pilot. That allowed us to launch a beta with early customers, where the main goal was learning. We spent a lot of time talking directly with users and gathering feedback on both the product and the overall experience, and those conversations have continued to shape how we refine what we’re building.

We’re currently raising our next round as we prepare for a broader launch. We’re starting exclusively on our own site in a direct-to-consumer format, which allows us to deliver a more tailored experience and stay closely connected to our customers as we scale.

Our early marketing efforts are focused on community-driven channels. That includes ambassador and trainer partnerships, select influencer collaborations and sponsoring in-person events. The goal is to grow through education, trust, and real-world exposure rather than heavy upfront advertising.

NI: How important is science to the brand?

GL: Science is foundational to everything we do and one of our core pillars as a brand. Every ingredient and dosage we include is grounded in clinical research. That’s the baseline before anything ever reaches a customer, and it’s not something we’re willing to compromise on.

That commitment matters, especially in a category where overstated claims and weak science have become common. We view evidence-based decision-making as a responsibility to the consumer and as critical to building long-term trust. At the same time, we’re practical about how science shows up in the real world. A formula can look good on paper, but if it isn’t tolerable or easy to take consistently, the benefits never fully materialize. That’s where format and usability come into play.

NI: Could you tell us more about your flagship products? Who formulates the products?

GL: Our flagship products are daily liquid wellness shots designed to replace a fragmented supplement routine with something more streamlined. Users complete a high-level health assessment, which helps us understand their goals and lifestyle, and they’re paired with a formula built to address multiple targets at once. Customers will receive a monthly supply of shots delivered directly to their doorstep. The goal is to replace a hectic supplement stack with something much simpler that still feels intentional.

We chose liquid for very practical reasons. Pills and capsules can be hard to tolerate when taken in volume, and powders often add extra steps or mess. Liquid allowed us to consolidate ingredients into a single step that’s easy to integrate into a routine. It also gives us better control over absorption and helps avoid unnecessary fillers. Quite simply, grabbing a shot from the fridge is something people can realistically stick with.

Formulation is done in collaboration with industry professionals who bring over 30 years of combined experience across supplement science and flavor development. That balance matters. When you’re bringing multiple ingredients into one format, it has to work cohesively and be palatable.

NI: How do you define personalization in the supplement space and how do you ensure personalized solutions?

GL: We’re very deliberate about how we define personalization, and we tend to use the word tailored rather than personalized. Today, our model isn’t about creating a one-of-one formula for every individual. It’s about matching people to the right solution based on what they’re actually trying to improve.

The first step is to understand the user’s goals and priorities. From there, they’re paired with a formula from our library that aligns with those needs. Someone may be focused on gut health while also wanting support for mood or cognitive function, while someone else may be looking for sustained energy alongside muscle recovery and immune support. Our formulas are designed around these real-world combinations rather than isolated, single-outcome claims.

With liquid supplements in particular, formulas need to be developed, tested and validated as complete systems. Ingredient interactions, stability and palatability all matter. While some formats allow for deeper one-off customization, they often rely on test kits, long turnaround times and complex daily routines that don’t translate well into consistent use. That isn’t theexperience we’re trying to create.

Long term, as tech advances, we see a clear path toward deeper levels of personalization. For now, this model allows us to deliver something that feels relevant to the user while remaining responsible to build at scale.

NI: Where do you see the most opportunity for innovation in the sports and active nutrition category?

GL: A lot of innovation in this category has focused on adding more products or more ingredients, but not enough on how those products actually fit into someone’s routine. There’s still a big gap between what science allows for and what people realistically maintain over time.

I see the biggest opportunity in designing around behavior rather than just performance claims. That means simplifying delivery, being intentional about format and frequency, and thinking carefully about how products are used across different parts of the day. If something requires too many steps or too much cognitive effort, even the best formulation won’t deliver results.

There’s also room for better alignment between active nutrition and overall health. Recovery, digestion, sleep and cognitive function all play a role in performance, but they’re often treated as separate categories. Bringing those pieces together in a more cohesive way is where I think the category can evolve.

NI: What is next for Theorem? What is your long-term goal for the company?

GL: In the near term, the focus is on getting the product into more hands and continuing to refine the experience as we move toward full launch. That means staying closely connected to how people are actually integrating Theorem into their routines and letting that feedback guide what we improve next.

Long term, the goal goes beyond any single product or format. We want to reshape how people think about daily wellness. For us, that means making it feel intentional and evidence-based without being overwhelming. If the experience fits naturally into someone’s routine, consistency follows, and that’s where real impact happens.

That principle will guide how we grow the brand and introduce new offerings over time. Regardless of how the category evolves, our North Star remains the same: Designing around real human behavior is what keeps us aligned and helps ensure we don’t lose sight of why we started.