Julie Wainwright’s Next Venture Is All About Nutrition

Founder and former chief executive officer of The RealReal Julie Wainwright is moving away from fashion and toward nutrition with her latest venture, Ahara.

For Wainwright, Ahara, a personalized nutrition and supplement platform, dates back several years but was ignited during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“During COVID[-19], my father died. It wasn’t due to COVID[-19] but it was due to the cumulative effects,” Wainwright said. “Nutrition is the key to all preventative health.”

With health and nutrition top of mind, Wainwright began asking her doctor and now cofounder Dr. Melina Jampolis, a board-certified physician nutritionist, “Is there a good test for understanding genetics and how that influences your food and what you need?”

While Jampolis initially responded no, a nutrition-focused genetic test eventually was offered from a Toronto-based company called Nutrigenomix. “If you combine the genetic test with an epigenetic test and a biomarker test, we can start pinpointing what nutrients your body needs,” Wainwright recalls Jampolis telling her.

The duo worked together on Wainwright’s testing, but the process was complicated: accessing tests from different sources, receiving singular outputs from each test and then Jampolis analyzing everything by hand to create a personalized approach for Wainwright.

“I said, ‘this could be an algorithm.’ Then what’s the output? The output is food, so tell me what I should eat and then secondarily… supplementation,” Wainwright said, of the genesis for Ahara, which means nourishment in Sanskrit.

Ahead of starting Ahara, Wainwright stepped down from her role as CEO, chairperson and director of the firm at The RealReal in June 2022 following $57.4 million in losses, despite revenues rising 48.5 percent, as previously reported by WWD.

While Wainwright was ready to double down on nutrition following her time at The RealReal, market trends also suggested growth in the category. According to the Global Wellness Institute, the global healthy eating, nutrition and weight loss market is worth $946 billion and was one of the only sectors that grew during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the past year, Wainwright and Jampolis worked together to create the precision-nutrition platform, which is in beta-testing and is expected to fully launch in the fall. Jampolis collaborated with data scientists for more than nine months to create Ahara’s artificial intelligence-powered algorithm which compiles more than 300 peer-reviewed studies on nutrients, epigenetics, nutrigenetics, genetics and spices.

Currently, the platform is made up of an array of tests that a user can opt into. First, the user will take an in-depth health questionnaire. Wainwright noted one could stop here for $240 a year, but their nutrition plan would not be as specific. For a more detailed plan, the customer can take the at-home Ahara tests, focused on genetics, epigenetics and biomarkers to assess the body’s inner age and nutrient levels. Afterward, they will receive a personal nutrition plan that identifies key foods and supplements for optimal nutrient absorption. Customers who take all of the tests can opt in for one of two plans: Preferred, $60 quarterly plus $695 for testing, which includes a nutrition plan and additional recommended foods and supplements; and Premium, $2,500, which includes everything from the Preferred plan along with periodic retesting and three one-on-one consultations with a nutritionist.

With these plans, members have access to the Ahara app. While the precision nutrition plan provides guidelines for eating, the app can take out the guesswork for members. For example, if a member is eating at a restaurant, they may scan the menu to be shown which meal would be optimal for them based on their nutrient levels.

By sticking to the Ahara nutrition plan, members are expected to improve their overall health and slow down the aging process, according to Wainwright. As consumers are all seeking specific results, Jampolis and Wainwright created custom pathways, including heart, gut, brain, metabolic, aging or immune-focused programming. A performance-focused program will be introduced in 2024. While the brand’s current consumer is skewing more female, Wainwright expects the performance program to draw in more male members.

Aside from testing and personalized programming, Ahara will also offer supplements to address nutrition deficits, a market expected to reach $45.2 billion by 2027 in the United States, according to Mintel. Ahara’s supplements include formulas like Focus, which boosts cognitive health, and Vitality, which supports hair, skin, nails and joints.

Throughout the summer, Wainwright and her team will be refining the model, fueled by a recent seed round of $10.25 million led by Greycroft with participation from Headline, Shakti, Dr. Samuel Jampolis, Wainwright and Sandy Sholl. Assessing the necessary number of on-staff nutritionists will be key during this time. For Wainwright, investor interest in Ahara can be attributed to shifting consumer interests following the COVID-19 pandemic.

“[In the nutrition category], there’s a lot of noise and a lot of white space. Everyone coming out of COVID[-19] had a different view of their health than maybe they did going in and more sensitivity to the importance of health because COVID[-19] hit a wide range of people,” said Wainwright.

As members join and continuously test and new research comes out, Ahara’s algorithm will continue to evolve.

“It’ll be constantly being refined,” Wainwright said. “It really is like having a personal nutritionist with you.”

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