“Hospitality is about elevating experiences and making people feel cared for and that’s exactly how we approach supplements,” says Nicklas Vang, Glion graduate and now Co-founder and CEO of SUPPLME, a pioneering performance nutrition start-up that’s aiming to disrupt the wellness industry.
“We’re not just providing hydration or vitamins, we’re creating moments of recovery, energy and wellness. Imagine a five-star hotel minibar stocked with vitamin shots or wellness cafés that enhance drinks with clean, science-backed electrolytes. That’s SUPPLME. Performance nutrition delivered with hospitality DNA.”
It may seem an obvious synergy, but that was far from the case when Nicklas and his business partner Leopold Henriksen first came up with the idea of producing supplements with provenance and proven performance improvement properties. But having identified a gap in the market, the pair soon realized the crossover potential of what they were offering.
A winning combination
“SUPPLME is a performance nutrition company focused on one thing: absorption,” says Nicklas. “We create liquid supplements that the body actually absorbs, which makes them far more effective and convenient than pills or powders. Our core products are electrolytes and vitamin-mineral shots, though we will be expanding our range with collagen and energy gels in the near future.”
The company launched in January 2024 and in less than two years, it already has a presence in more than 30 countries worldwide. SUPPLME now supplies global chains such as Joe & The Juice as well as luxury hotels, cafés, gyms, football clubs and some of the world’s top athletes. Not only that, it is backed by Antler, making SUPPLME one of the few physical product companies in the wellness space to secure venture capital funding, a huge vote of confidence in its scalability and global potential.
So what makes SUPPLME different? According to Nicklas, it’s a combination of the product itself and the hospitality mindset that was instilled in him during his time at Glion.
“Our unique selling point is the fact our supplements are much more easily absorbed,” he says. “Traditional supplements such as powders often pass straight through the body, while ours are liquid-based and designed for maximum impact.
“What’s more, around 80% of supplements out there are white label products, which means there's only a handful of manufacturers who produce them for brands. And there’s little real information about how those ingredients are sourced. So you have a situation where high-performing athletes and the general public are taking supplements they believe are good for them when actually they could be anything. And we thought: ‘That can’t be right.’”
Bridging health and hospitality
While the initial focus was on the athletic performance side of the market, Nicklas was always wondering about other potential avenues to pursue.
“With my background, it’s only natural I thought: why not hospitality?” he says. “And now 90% of our business comes from that sector, whereas only 10% goes through our web shop. We supply supplements for luxury hotels, cafés and wellness-focused concepts. Travelers often suffer from dehydration, especially after long-haul flights – and research increasingly shows that dehydration is one of the leading causes of fatigue and jet lag. High-quality electrolytes can counter this, but unfortunately, the market is flooded with poor-quality products filled with sugar and artificial additives.
“SUPPLME is aiming to change that. Our clean electrolyte formula supports optimal hydration and recovery. And in hotels, our vitamin-mineral shots and electrolytes elevate the guest wellness experience, whether it’s in a minibar, spa recovery ritual or as a premium non-alcoholic alternative at the bar.”
Of course, the sports world remains a major part of the business. SUPPLME regularly conducts R&D testing with high-performance athletes to ensure its products deliver measurable benefits. But what excites Nicklas is bridging the gap between elite sports performance and premium hospitality.
“Top CEOs and frequent business travelers need the same fuel for their daily life as elite athletes do for performance and recovery. That’s the mindset shift we’re pushing: performance nutrition isn’t just for athletes, it’s for anyone who wants to show up at their best.”
Science behind the scenes
SUPPLME’s use of liposome technology, a pharmaceutical-grade encapsulation method used in vaccines, increases absorption and reduces the digestive discomfort that many supplements cause. It’s part of a broader R&D pipeline backed by the Danish Innovation Fund and key scientific partners.
Beyond the commercial traction, SUPPLME is fast becoming a leader in supplement innovation. The company is part of MICROSUNSET, a €3.9 million EU-funded PhD program focused on unlocking better nutrient absorption through novel delivery systems.
“This is about creating measurable efficacy in a space where trust is often lacking,” says Nicklas. “We’re proud to be the only supplement company in the program, which is led by the Technical University of Denmark and top European research institutions.”
Entrepreneurial spirit
So how did a hotel sales and marketing man end up using his hospitality smarts to sell nutritional supplements back into the industry?
“I’d always wanted to create something from scratch,” he says. “Working in hospitality gave me incredible experiences, but I realized the same skills I used to sell destinations could be used to build a global brand of my own.”
Nicklas' yearning for a more entrepreneurial direction coincided with his move back from Dubai, where he was working for Shangri-La, to his native Denmark. And the idea for SUPPLME took shape while paddle boarding through the canals of Copenhagen during the pandemic.
“Every night, my business partner and I would brainstorm while out on the water and the thing that always came up was supplements,” he says. “We thought there were so many things wrong with the industry and because we are quite nerdy, we took a deep dive into it, finding out how supplements are produced, where they’re manufactured and what the raw materials are.
“We wanted to understand the fundamentals before we went into it. And then we came upon something called liposome technology. It’s all about encapsulating active ingredients in fat particles and is used in vaccines. So we thought: why can't we use this with supplements?”
Having found a partner laboratory, the pair started making prototypes and carrying out stability tests, which showed the product had high viability. Next came testing with a few athletes in Denmark to measure the effects quickly.
“The results were conclusive – it definitely worked,” says Nicklas. “So we launched in January 2024 and have been growing ever since. Of course, there were hurdles, including having to navigate regulatory approvals in different countries, building a reliable supply chain and earning the trust of our partners as a young brand. But leaning into that hospitality mindset, forging relationships and focusing on experience really helped. And once we’d proven the product and our ability to deliver, that’s when doors started opening.”
Healthy outlook
It’s one thing for doors to start opening; it’s quite another to achieve the kind of expansion Nicklas is targeting in the coming years.
“We want SUPPLME to be the global leader in liquid supplements,” he says. “Our ambition is to be everywhere performance and hospitality intersect: from athletes and gyms to hotels, wellness cafés, and business lounges.”
Another trend Nicklas believes SUPPLME is poised to benefit from is the increasing shift towards personalization, particularly in the hospitality industry.
“I recently spoke with a hotel in Switzerland where they have just developed an AI tool that enables them to tailor rooms and amenities to the person who booked it,” he says. “That’s a hot topic in the industry and something we’re going to see more of in years to come. This is fascinating for us as we can present supplements as something hotels can supply in minibars to health-conscious guests instead of, for example, alcohol. Being able to anticipate guests’ needs and cater for them is becoming essential in hospitality and we see our supplements as helping enable that.”
“What we’ve also seen recently is increasing demand from travelers for wellness to be a part of every hospitality touchpoint. By innovating with nutrition technology and building strategic relationships with sports and hospitality partners, we’re creating a new category where performance meets lifestyle. That’s why we’re relishing the challenge of meeting that demand.”
• To discover more about SUPPLME, visit the website
