Women’s healthcare brand Unfabled has announced a $1.7m (£1.15m) funding round and an expansion into 737 Boots stores nationwide – topping up the total of seed funding raised to $3.9m (£3.2m). This marks one of the fastest retail scale-ups in the wellness category, taking Unfabled from a website startup in 2021 to a successful high street brand today.
British brand Unfabled was founded four years ago by Hannah Samano, in response to a need for better, sustainable women’s healthcare solutions. She was, she says, “fed up of finding tampons next to pet food in the supermarket aisles.” And, as she points out, the need was there; despite making up half the population, women’s health conditions – from periods and menopause to maternal and sexual health – have historically been underfunded and overlooked. Globally, research shows that women spend 25% more of their lives in poor health than men, and only about 5% of total health R&D funding is dedicated to women-specific conditions, leaving major needs unmet.
Samano’s answer to this was healthcare platform Unfabled, which listened to women at scale and turned their voices into real solutions, with product development taking place at Unfabled Labs, described as “a unique community-led methodology where trends are spotted, tested, and validated before being rapidly translated into products”. The company grew their healthcare range in response to demand to encompass solutions for sexual wellness, fertility, and support for PCOS, among other things.
Harnessing influencer culture
The company’s USP has been its strong performance on TikTok. Its TikTok account @unfabled.co has 25K followers and 2.4M likes, with multiple pinned videos reaching millions of views. Their products – such as Magnesium Superblend and Ashwagandha Gummies – appeal directly to Millenial and Gen Z shoppers, and it was this ability to engage this lucrative cohort and turn digital buzz into direct sales that led to Unfabled being handpicked as one of the first entrants into Boots Ignite, the retailer’s accelerator programme for trending and viral brands. In 2024, Boots introduced six of the brand’s Essentials supplements into 50 stores. The ongoing success of this collection saw Boots deciding to expand the range nationwide – now into an impressive 737 stores.
Among the new investors is Arāya Ventures, founded by Managing Partner Rupa Popat and backed by British Business Investments (BBI). Alongside this, previous notable investors include Morgan Stanley, Exceptional Ventures, Atomico Angels, and angel groups out of Google and MIT. Investment into Unfabled has been made from their Arāya Super Angel Fund, a community-powered model that mirrors Unfabled’s own DNA of women supporting women. 67% of investments into Unfabled have come from female investors – a strong showing in an industry average where just 14% of angel investors are women and only 15% of senior VC roles are held by women.
Listening to women
“Women’s health has been sidelined for far too long,” said Sarano. “At Unfabled, we’ve shown that when you truly listen to women, you don’t just create better products – you create a movement. Boots expanding our footprint by over 1000% proves that women’s health is no longer niche. We’re proud to be building a brand, a community, and a category that retailers and investors can no longer ignore.”
Rupa Popat, General Partner at Arāya Ventures, added: “Unfabled represents the future of women’s health: community-driven, culturally relevant, and commercially explosive. Hannah has built unparalleled momentum, with DTC growth that has translated directly into retail success. We are thrilled to back her and this brand at such a pivotal stage.”
Unfabled’s funding round and Boots expansion positions it as a standout example of how an online retail business can scale successfully by tapping into cultural shifts. By leveraging influencer-driven engagement and aligning with the values of Millennial and Gen Z consumers, the company has carved out a strong position in the booming wellness market. What began as a niche has become a mainstream category, and Unfabled is capitalising on this momentum to lead the way.
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