Hindustan Unilever enters health and wellbeing category with two investments

Unilever’s Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), is set to enter the health and wellbeing category through investments in two companies – Zywie Ventures (OZiva) and Nutritionalab (Wellbeing Nutrition).

Founded in 2016 by Aarti Gill and Mihir Gadani, OZiva is a plant-based and clean-label consumer wellness brand that supplies products such as lifestyle protein, hair and beauty supplements, and solutions for women’s health. HUL will initially acquire a 51% equity stake in OZiva, and the rest will be purchased in three years, “based on pre-agreed valuation criteria”.

OZiva’s current team will continue to operate all business functions.

Meanwhile, HUL is buying a 19.8% interest in Wellbeing Nutrition. The company’s product range includes marine collagen powder, Melts oral strips and health capsules. The current Wellbeing Nutrition team, led by founder and CEO Avnish Chhabria, will continue to operate all functions of the business.

Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and managing director of HUL, said: “These strategic investments give us an entry into the fast-growing health and wellbeing category. They align strongly with our mission to improve the health and wellbeing of consumers and empower people to take charge of their health through solutions that they can trust. I strongly believe that HUL is well-positioned to support further scale-up of these businesses through our R&D, market development, distribution capabilities and Unilever’s global health and wellbeing expertise.”

Aarti Gill and Mihir Gadani, founders of OZiva, added: “We are glad to partner with HUL to achieve our vision of empowering people to live better and healthier with OZiva. Over the last few years, we have created an innovative portfolio that has helped millions of consumers live a better life. As the next step in this journey, with OZiva’s focus on innovation in the space of health and wellbeing and HUL’s strong capabilities in category development and distribution, we believe we can together create a stronger purpose-led brand that brings us closer to our vision and touches more lives around the world.”

Avnish Chhabria, founder and CEO of Wellbeing Nutrition, commented: “We are very excited to welcome onboard Hindustan Unilever as a strategic investor. Wellbeing Nutrition has been on a mission to make clean nutrition accessible to consumers all over the world on the back of innovative products, such as Melts (oral thin strips) and Slow (two-in-one capsule technology), formulated using high-quality and globally sourced natural ingredients. We believe this partnership will help scale Wellbeing Nutrition by leveraging HUL’s reach and capabilities and [help us] become a lifestyle wellness brand of choice.”

Both transactions are expected to be completed within three months, subject to customary closing conditions.

Terms of the deals were not disclosed.