Sisterly doing it for all women with launch of quality health supplements’ range

Sisterly, a Dublin-based health supplement business, aims to raise €2 million in funding in the US soon in order to aid its expansion there in 2024.

“Once we get to the US, we’ll start really activating LA and New York. Then there are plans to go to Asia beyond that as well. There’s a huge community aspect to what we’re doing as we are taking a personalised approach to the products,” Louise O’Riordan, co-founder of Sisterly, told the Business Post.

“Obviously we’ll need deeper pockets to get above the noise. We expect to raise in February.”

Sisterly is developing a range of supplements tailored specifically for women with its first products due to launch in September. The business was founded by Aoife Matthews, Jennifer O’Connell and O’Riordan in 2020 and has five staff.

“They are premium supplements and we’re targeting all the various ages and stages of a woman’s life. Our first product is called the Elevator, that’s to improve the nutrition of all women,” O’Connell said.

“Our add-on products will target specific times in a woman’s life like post-partum, menopause and symptom-specific issues like libido and cognition.”

The idea for the company came when the trio each found that there were no supplements on the market that catered specifically to their needs.

“We had each found that we needed extra support but couldn’t find anything specifically for women. The quality just wasn’t there, so there was a gap in the market. The more we looked into it, we felt there was a lack of focus on and investment in female health,” Matthews said.

The business has deliberately targeted the higher end of the market due to what the founders feel is a demand from that sector.

“We set ourselves a difficult task of starting with a complicated product. We really approached it where we didn’t want to compromise on anything. We set out to make this for our sisters and mothers, and that motivated us to make sure we didn’t cut any corners,” O’Riordan said.

“We will launch in Dublin first. It’s a great market to prove the concept. Then quickly after that we’ll launch in London in January before getting to the US within a year of our Dublin launch. The focus is direct to consumer but there will be some retail spaces we target as well.”

The business is supported by Enterprise Ireland. Matthews, who had been living in Spain prior to starting the company, returned to Dublin, supported by the agency’s back-to-business programme. Sisterly is also part of the high potential start-up unit (HPSU) in Enterprise Ireland.

“We’ve had huge support in funding but also in terms of advice. We’ve attended a number of events that have introduced us to people in the UK market. We have a wonderful mentor who we meet once a month and who keeps us on track,” Matthews said.

“We have also met some of their US teams and when we enter that market, Enterprise will support us there.”

This Making it Work article is produced in partnership with Enterprise Ireland