HigherDOSE is changing the way New Yorkers do self-care but it wasnt easy convincing VCs
In a city obsessed with optimizing everything from work to sleep to fitness, it only makes sense that New Yorkers would also be receptive to wellness technology — a $6 trillion industry that’s expected to hit $8.5 trillion by 2027.But Lauren Berlingeri, co-founder of HigherDOSE — a company that creates cutting-edge self-care tools for home use, including a red-light face mask and a sauna blanket — said it took years to get investors on board because of the perceived “woo-woo” factor.“That’s always been a challenge of ours as these trendsetters in this holistic recovery space — or even longevity space or biohacking.Most people don’t even know what it is,” said Berlingeri, who launched the company in 2014 with former Merrill Lynch banker Katie Kaps.
“Pioneering a whole new space for [venture capitalists] was hard to wrap their head around,” she added.Biohacking is an effort to improve your health by using science and self-experimentation.It has become an obsession among the tech elite, who spend millions each year in the hopes of living a robust life longer.HigherDOSE only raised $1.2 million in 2016, and Berlingeri explains that the company — which now retails on high-end e-commerce sites like Sephora and Goop — had to get creative about making money at a time when valuations for tech companies were skyrocketing.
Along with the money they raised, she and Kaps put their own cash into opening permanent locations across the city — in addition to pop ups — to bring in revenue and build the brand as they worked on launching the wearable technology that has now become their main offering.Berlingeri, 39, came to wellness after working as a model and television host for years.She said she smoked cigarettes and drank Diet Coke to stay thin, but turned her life around by learning about nutrition and various wellness tools.
She felt so much better, she wanted to share it with others.“When I learned about the infrared sauna, I was like, �...