Sisterly, a Dublin-based supplements business, aims to expand substantially in the UK this year and then explore entry into the US market in 2026.
Founded by Aoife Matthews, Jennifer O’Connell and Louise O’Riordan in 2020, Sisterly has two full-time staff members at present with a further eight working on a part-time basis.
The company has developed a supplement aimed specifically at women.
“It’s a powder supplement that you can drink in the morning with all your essential vitamins and minerals. It’s easy to take, with a mild flavour and it’s potent and effective,” O’Connell told the Business Post.
“It’s targeted at women over 30, in the sandwich years, where they might have kids, ageing parents and their own careers to manage.”
The trio came up with the idea for the business as they found there wasn’t an adequate supplement on the market targeted at their needs.
“During Covid we were discussing how we supported our own general health. We found there was very little out there that worked for us, very few of these products are developed for women,” Matthews said.
“There’s so much noise in the supplement world that makes it hard to figure out what we should be taking. It was also hard for people to be consistent in knowing what they should take. We felt there had to be an easier way to support busy working women like ourselves.”
The company spent three years on product development before launching its supplement to market and has picked up some strong partners along the way.
“We launched in September 2023 and Brown Thomas launched with us, that has been an amazing support for the business. Una O’Hagan and Meagher’s Pharmacy really helped us as well,” O’Connell said.
“We have predominantly been a direct-to-consumer brand. We have built a unique subscription in that we make it as painless as possible. We’re conscious of who it is for and they don’t want boxes stocking up in the house, so we contact subscribers by e-mail before every subscription is sent.”
The business is supported by Enterprise Ireland and is part of the high potential startup unit (HPSU) in the agency.
“They’ve been a fantastic support. They came in on our initial round and we’ve also received a number of grants, including for feasibility studies and market exploration,” Matthews said.
“Predominantly with Enterprise Ireland, it’s largely about the contacts and network they have. We’re exporting into the UK market and they are putting us in touch with a lot of people over there.”
The business now has 3,000 users on its subscription service and has a range of ambassadors that includes Olympians Sonia O’Sullivan and Annalise Murphy. The company’s big focus now is on growth in the UK before it explores US expansion.
“We’ve had so many positive indicators of how well the product is being received. We won the editor’s choice award at the Get the Gloss awards, which is really respected in the UK. British Vogue named us the best multivitamin for hormone health recently and Trinny Woodhall recommended us in her newsletter,” O’Connell said.
“It’s daily that we’re getting indications from the UK that it’s well-received and embraced. Once women try it, they feel the benefits and then recommend it to others.”
This Making it Work article was produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland.