The company has no competition in the Indian market, which is its USP and what makes it a true trendsetter
Bengaluru: The global wellness genomics market is growing and is expected to reach $12.8 billion in revenue within a few years. In India, Vieroots, which is the first firm to offer geno-metabolic-based personalised lifestyle modification solutions, has seen brisk growth.
Story of growth
A few of the core team members at Vieroots Wellness Solutions were among the first Indians to undergo genetic testing for disease risks. They did this while on a tour of the USA more than 12 years ago—genetic testing had just started back then and that too only in developed countries such as the USA. Impressed with their genetic test results which practically gave them their genetically-coded disease risks, they started researching how to prevent such diseases. Already a wellness enthusiast, this led Sajeev Nair (currently the chairman at Vieroots) to become a biohacker— somebody who uses scientifically proven, easily doable methods and techniques to make his or her body function better and more efficiently.
During this period, there was a worldwide boom in research into how various lifestyle modifications can prevent or postpone even genetically coded diseases. “I expanded on this emerging body of knowledge and focused on biohacks, which were the most well-researched lifestyle modifications spanning diet, exercise, yoga and meditation among others. I consulted with a wide array of specialists including geneticists, doctors, functional medicine specialists, researchers, Ayurvedic practitioners, yoga gurus and meditation experts,” shares Nair. He chronicled the fruits of this journey in a book titled
The Making of a Superhuman, which came out in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic’s first wave and is available on Amazon India as a paperback and e-book. “Vieroots was formed in the same year to provide the greatest finding from this book—that geno- metabolic based personalised epigenetic lifestyle modifications can indeed ward off even genetically coded diseases—as a service. Thus was born Eplimo, our flagship product,” adds Nair.
Innovation at the core
Eplimo stands for ‘Epigenetic Personalized Lifestyle Modification’. While it involves a one-time genetic test and metabolic assessment, which is packaged as an attractive product for an easy and self-administered saliva-based test at home, everything else about Eplimo is long-running and ongoing, like the personalised diet, personalised fitness regimen, personalised yoga, etc. “Selling such a service required more than basic direct selling flair, and we met this challenge by training an army of discerning with affiliated markets as ‘wellness evangelists’, and this has been our main disruption in the direct selling market. We are happy that we could pioneer direct selling in something so advanced as genomic wellness—the wellness offerings in the direct selling mode were mostly products,” conveys Nair. What also helps is that the core leadership team at Vieroots has a background in direct selling. “A few of them were the largest network creators in India for leading international and national direct-selling brands,” adds Nair.
Innovation is at the core of everything Vieroots does. “Eplimo is the first and only such personalised epigenetic lifestyle modification solution in India, and one among only a handful of such solutions anywhere in the world. As such, we have no competition in the Indian market, which is our USP and what makes us a true trendsetter in the market,” shares Nair.
Being customer ready
Vieroots has positioned Eplimo as a very personal product. While the genetic testing part is implemented as a personal saliva-based test that users can do at their home in privacy, the metabolic assessment as well as the lifestyle modifications are delivered via the Eplimo app for iOS and Android smartphones. “The whole Eplimo solution in itself involves keeping in touch with the customer always, as it is all about delivering personalised diet, personalised fitness, personalised yoga, personalised meditation, etc.,” explains Nair.
Vieroots has an ambitious target of serving Eplimo to 1 crore consumers within the next few years, thereby helping them transform into superhumans in every respect. “While we have tie-ups with several hospitals and wellness organisations to speed up the achievement of this target, the major portion of this lofty aim will be met in the D2C mode itself, by steadily growing our army of wellness evangelists,” concludes Nair.
Brownie Points
- Vieroots’ flagship product ‘Eplimo’ is the first and only such personalised epigenetic lifestyle modification solution in India, and one among only a handful of such solutions anywhere in the world.
- As such, Vieroots has no competition in the Indian market, which is its USP and what makes it a true trendsetter.
- FY22 was Vieroots’ first full fiscal in operations. The firm has achieved an annual revenue run rate of Rs 15 crores.
- Noted Bollywood actor and fitness enthusiast Suniel Shetty has joined Vieroots as an equity investor.
First appeared in The India D2C Yearbook 2022
