Florin Cașotă
Zitamine offers a subscription to natural vitamins based on a personalized recommendation. The recommendation is generated by an algorithm that determines the unique nutritional profile of each customer. The vitamins are wrapped in personalized packaging with the daily dosage, with the help of modern equipment destined to the medical industry, and are delivered monthly, at the customer’s door.
The Zitamine algorithm has been developed and tested in partnership with doctors and pharmacists and is available free of charge through the zitamine.ro website questionnaire.
Concretely, Zitamine is adapting the concept of vitamins subscriptions through a personalized recommendation on the Eastern European market, which was launched 10 years ago in the United States and is rapidly growing in Western Europe.
Zitamine was founded in 2021 in the Novel Ventures incubator by three entrepreneurs: Marina Roșu, former Bookster and BRD manager, Emanuel Dincă, former Unilever manager, Bilyana Beșleagă, former Bookster, and Unilever manager.
„Our vision for Zitamine is to transform the way people of Eastern Europe take vitamins. We developed a service that takes into consideration each organism’s needs, the science behind supplements, and people’s need to access a simple solution. We aim to help people take only the vitamins they need, at a fair price, and wrapped in modern, personalized envelopes which contain the daily dosage each customer needs. We believe each person is unique and the vitamin regimens that help us lead a healthy lifestyle should be based on the unique nutritional profile of each one of us”, states Marina Roșu, Zitamine co-founder.
„Most people tend to choose vitamins from commercials or based on friends’ advice. For instance, on an online pharmacy’s website there are over 100 types of magnesium one can buy. How do you pick one? Zitamine selects the best vitamins on the market based on scientific studies and according to strict quality and bioavailability criteria, from natural ingredients, without additives or preservatives”, states Ioana Pîntea, pharmacist and Zitamine Product Manager.
By the end of the year, the company’s goal is to attract 5,000 customers and expand the business to Bulgaria, Greece, and Hungary. By the end of 2023, the management targets an expansion to 5 other countries and 15,000 customers.
„I decided to invest in Zitamine both for the business opportunity, and the social impact of this project. The vitamin market exploded in the last years and the fact that Zitamine is the first company that offers a personalized vitamins service in Eastern Europe appealed to me”, Bogdan Georgescu - Zitamine investor.
After an initial 300,000 euros investment, the start-up is preparing for a new financing round. Zitamine is focusing on attracting a 300,000 euros investment to sustain the business’ accelerated growth in Eastern Europe.
