Wellness startups board the weight loss bandwagon

India's wellness startups have joined the weight loss gold rush, launching supplements that claim to have effects similar to blockbuster drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro.

- Jessica Jani

The Good Bug, Wellbeing Nutrition and Veera Health are among startups launching products that claim to naturally stimulate GLP-1, the hormone mimicked by weight loss drugs. The supplements, marketed as cheaper and easily accessible alternatives to weight loss injections, target appetite regulation, gut health and metabolic disorders. Last month, US pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly launched its once-a-week weight loss injection Mounjaro in India.

For Veera Health, which started as a company focused on offering solutions for PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), a common hormonal disorder affecting women, the product has become a best-seller since its launch three months back.

"There was a lot of customer demand for it, and we've seen where the market is going...India is the third largest obesity market after the US and China," Shashwata Narain, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Veera Health, told Mint. "Given our existing diet and how we're just prone to diabetes and many of these metabolic disorders, this is going to be a very important area to solve," she added.

The Good Bug, which offers gut health solutions, launched its natural GLP-1 supplement earlier this month. The company is positioning itself as a science and R&D-first company.

"We've been conducting randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trials and early pharma-grade trials," Keshav Biyani, CEO, told Mint. The company has been working on its GLP-1 product for about a year and a half.