VC funding, influencers power India's health supplements craze amid lingering safety concerns

Time of India

26-05-2025

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BENGALURU/MUMBAI: A decade ago, India's health supplements mostly meant vitamin C , iron and B12 tablets purchased at pharmacies after consulting a doctor.Fast forward to 2025, and a whole new market has emerged — gummies to enhance your hair health, powders to boost collagen, liquid for gut, pills for women's perimenopause hormonal imbalance, magnesium tablets for better sleep, testosterone boosters, capsules with calming properties and vegan versions of all these.The supplements wave in the country was sparked by increased health awareness after Covid-19 pandemic and powered by social media influencer marketing and arush of venture capital (VC), according to industry executives and experts.These products are being sold directly to consumers on ecommerce websites as well as quick-commerce apps, spawning a fast-growing segment within the health sector. But as gummies and pills become lifestyle staples, the line between wellness and pseudoscience is blurring. Most items are sold over the counter—with no prescription, no pharmacist and often no clarity on whether they actually work.The result? A shelf full of products that look similar, promise big results and raise acritical question — how much of it is science, and how much social media hype?India's nutritional supplement industry, pegged at $47.92 billion in 2024, is projected to expand to $68.43 billion by 2030, at a compound annual growth rate of 8.1%, according to market research firm Research and Markets. The growth story has attracted both founders and venture capitalists. 'Just after the Covid-19 pandemic, the evolution of these nutra products happened with immunity-building items. After seeing good acceptance from the audience and more usage of digital platforms (ecommerce and quick-commerce) to buy such products, brands started experimenting with their offerings,' said Renu Bisht, founder of Commercify360, a Gurgaon-based brand consulting firm.The funding numbers back this up. According to data firm Venture Intelligence, the sector raised more than $500 million between 2020 and May 2025. The latest in the line is Mumbai-based The Good Bug , a gut health startup that raised about $12 million in a round led by Susquehanna Asia Venture Capital, with Fireside Ventures participating.Ankur Khaitan, principal at Fireside Ventures, emphasised the sharpening focus on science and research, along with innovation, in delivery formats. 'As themes like women's health, longevity and bone health evolve, we are looking to double down on startups operating at the intersection of unmet consumer needs and science-led innovation,' he said.Some health professionals are beginning to worry that the focus is shifting from effectiveness to aesthetics. 'The wellness sector is booming in India, which is why a lot of companies are getting a lot of VC funding early on.They use a lot of that funding to basically not work so much on the formulation but more on the marketability of a product,' said Poorvi Bhat Khandige, a Bengaluru-based naturopathic physician and nutritionist.'Health supplement brands are heavily reaching out to influencers because the concept is fairly new in India,' said Commercify 360's Bisht. 'Brands are partnering with health influencers, doctors and fitness trainers for marketing in order to build the audience's trust. Some brands are spending 15-30% of their budget on influencer marketing.'Ayurvedic label Kapiva , from Kolkata-based Baidyanath, works with regional wellness influencers, while nutrition brand Fast&Up aligns with athletes and fitness content creators.'We are trying to reach our target audience and continuously build awareness at the right frequency with them,' said Keshav Biyani, founder of gut health-focused brand The Good Bug. Hindustan Unilever-backed Wellbeing Nutrition, a direct-to-consumer nutraceutical player, said 20-25% of its expenses are allocated to marketing. These companies are ramping up their marketing budgets to build awareness by partnering with doctors and clinics.However, the marketing-first approach leads to many consumers buying the products without understanding them, and sometimes overusing them, leaving experts and nutritionists worried. 'We've seen almost 200% growth month-on-month where protein is concerned, which is good and bad,' said Avnish Chhabria, founder of Wellbeing Nutrition. 'It's good, because everyone's gotten the sense and understanding of what they need to take. It's bad, because even people who are eating enough protein in a day are now overconsuming it, which could eventually lead to kidney problems.' The lack of guidance regarding the usage of such products poses a real risk. In some cases, certain ingredients require specific lifestyle choices to be safe.For instance, a Jaipur-based consumer used a popular nutrition brand's metabolically lean powder for more than a year before eventually stopping, after realising that some ingredients in the product required lifestyle adjustments. 'The product has EGCG and ALA (epigallocatechin gallate and alpha-lipoic acid are ingredients typically used in weight loss products), both of which can cause issues if you-'re not active,' the person said on condition of anonymity.Additionally, some products may fall short of their promises. Hair gummies, for example, are marketed with the promise of improving hair health and making it stronger and shinier. However, according to Khandige, a nutritionist, many of these products don't contain a sufficient therapeutic dose to be truly effective.Even as the market expands, several leading brands are grappling with challenges tied to regulatory scrutiny, supply chain issues and shifting consumer expectations. GNC , a supplement retailer in the US—where the supplements market is projected to exceed $70 billion by 2031, from around $43 billion in 2022, according to data and business intelligence platform Statista—has faced multiple legal battles over product quality. Elysium Health, known for its anti-aging supplements, has drawn criticism from scientists, who have questioned the efficacy of its claims. However, the risk of such products reaching Indian consumers is heightened by the rise of fast and frictionless delivery channels such as quick-commerce apps.Most supplement products in India fall under the purview of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, and not the drug regulator. That means weaker scrutiny and lighter penalties despite brands making bold claims like 'improves liver health' or 'reverses aging'.Health experts have long called for stringent oversight. Recently, an interministerial committee headed by former health secretary Apurva Chandra recommended that any supplement claiming to treat or mitigate a disease should be classified as a drug. That would bring such products under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation and subject them to stricter regulation.