Written by Alex Bredeen
Cheryl invests into Feel Vitamins to welcome in her new "wellness era"
Cheryl invests into Feel Vitamins. The pop star and television personality Cheryl Cole has just made her first foray into business with an investment in UK digital health company and Fuel Ventures portfolio Feel Vitamins, as she pivots away from the spotlight into wellness.
Feel Vitamins was launched by Boris Hodakel in 2019 in an attempt to clean up the “dirty” nutritional supplement market through its direct-to-consumer subscription model.
Feel has enjoyed explosive growth with 60x growth in the first year, over 21,000 active subscriptions and an array of positive reviews. In April this year the company closed a £4.5m Series A round led by Fuel Ventures and participation from Lovehoney founder Richard Longhurst.
The size of the global supplements market has expanded enormously in recent years, with the estimated market size being around $144bn in 2019 alone.
This was one of a number of reasons that Cheryl wanted to invest in Feel Vitamins. Cheryl has invested an undisclosed amount in the company and will also become the face of the brand this month.
What has led Cheryl to bring in her wellness era?
Cheryl’s two-decade career in the entertainment industry may make the investment into Feel Vitamins and the business world a surprising one. However, Cheryl is long-known for her passion for health and her enthusiasm for Feel is palpable.
Cheryl when discussing Feel Vitamins in an interview with City A.M. suggested:
“I’m obviously not a scientist but the knowledge and the cleanliness of the product blew my mind because I didn’t have any idea about how many bulking agents & nasties had been in it,”
and goes onto to say...
“I love everything they stand for, I love their knowledge, I love their ambition.”
Cheryl has been removed from the spotlight for a year before announcing on her social media channels last week that she is back.
Cheryl resolutely says her new role and investment into Feel Vitamins has “absolutely” brought about a new wellness era in her life.
Cheryl joins a growing number of celebrities who have increasingly tapped into wellness and mindfulness over the past few years, including the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow to Russell Brand.
Cheryl says she’s been on a “journey” since her pregnancy four years ago but the pandemic had been the moment she fully subscribed to mindfulness and meditation.
How did the partnership come about?
The partnership started after she contacted Hodakel about working together long-term, having tried some of Feel’s supplements. Alongside the investment into Feel she will become the face of the brand.
However, unlike her role as a brand ambassador for the likes of L’Oreal, Cheryl is adamant this will be different:
“I’ve done a lot of brand ambassador stuff and it’s great… but this just feels different. I love Boris’ ambition.”
“I don’t want to do anything that’s not true to me or that I don’t believe. I wouldn’t be able to deliver that message. This is the perfect fit for me.”
‘This is a long-term investment’
Her role as an equity partner then, comes more for her real love of the product rather than any real desire for a quick return.
“I’m not investing in the short-term, I’m trying to tell people from my experience that it really can change your problems.”
She adds it’s
“growing Feel over the years that’s why I’ve made it a long-term investment.”
The company’s USP is that it’s a ‘clean’ brand compared to the existing supplements padded out with bulking agents and poor quality ingredients. But Cheryl won’t be brought into bashing other brands or indeed fellow celebrities that sell questionable products on Instagram.
“For me personally the clean science far outweighs any dirty product that you may be putting into your body,”
‘I’m a creative’
Cheryl is keen to play an active role in Feel to follow up her investment.
“I’m 20 years into my career, I’m looking for new things that I feel inspired by,” she says.
“I’m learning all the time and I’m interested. I want to be invested, I want to be in the developmental side, I want to be involved in the next packaging, that’s all stuff that excites me.”
“It’s completely new territory but I mean business is business and I’ve been in ‘the business’. I like the creativity side more than anything else… We’ll grow together and I’ve got so many ideas.”
If she can galvanise and engage her millions of followers to try Feel’s supplements, Fuel’s Portfolio company is in for an unprecedented year of growth.