Elle Macpherson has teamed up with a coterie of Perth-based business and wellness entrepreneurs to launch a new health company – WelleCo.
Elle Macpherson has teamed up with a coterie of Perth-based business and wellness entrepreneurs to launch a new health company – WelleCo.
Co-founders of the new venture are Andrea Bux, who created the successful Invisible Zinc product, and Navitas chief executive Rod Jones, who has injected funding through his Perth-based family investment office.
WelleCo and its flagship product – The Super Elixir – were officially launched in London on May 22, with an Australian launch planned for later in the year.
The Super Elixir is a nutritional supplement made from ‘super greens’, Chinese herbs and digestive enzymes.
Ms Macpherson has previously been a face of the Perth-produced Invisible Zinc product, which emerged from local company Advanced Powder Technologies and was developed by Andrea and Adil Bux’s company, Ganehill.
Ganehill recruited supermodels Megan Gale, Jerry Hall and Ms Macpherson to market the product before it was sold to US-based Valeant Pharmaceuticals in April 2011.
WelleCo will be headquartered in Perth and was founded to market the nutritional formula developed specifically for Ms Macpherson by London-based doctor Simone Laubscher, who originates from Sydney.
Mr Jones’ family investment vehicle Hoperidge Capital joined as a shareholder earlier this year.
Chief investment officer Jon Biesse told Business News WelleCo offered an attractive opportunity to invest in a potentially lucrative market.
“Andrea and Elle are both highly passionate, intelligent, experienced and successful entrepreneurs, so we were delighted to partner with them in this exciting venture,” Mr Biesse said.
“There is strong and increasing demand for wellness products. The sector is growing at over 15 per cent per annum this decade, and is a great space to invest in, if you get it right.”
Andrea and Adil Bux were finalists in EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in 2012 for their work developing Invisible Zinc, which launched in 2003 and gained 20 per cent market share.
Previously, Mr Jones was named EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008.
The new company and supplement is in line with what Ms Macpherson has described as “growing recognition of beauty from within”.
“This is what I take every single day to feed my cells the bio-live nutrients I need, I absolutely live by it. If I miss a day, my body actually craves it,” Ms Macpherson said.
“I started WelleCo with Andrea so we could share it.”
The product is available for purchase online until retail channels are established in Australia, expected to be around July.
