With $1.2M In Funding, Glow Botanica Strives To Get Its Natural Hormonal Imbalance Antidotes To As Many Women As Possible

With the new brand Glow Botanica and Hormone University, a hormone health education platform launched in 2020, founder Ana G. Herrera’s goal is to bring hormonal wellness front and center in women’s health across their life cycles, from menstruation to post-menopause.

In November, she closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round to secure $1.2 million on an initial $1 million goal with participation from friends, family, angel investors and the venture capital firm Charge Ventures, backer of modern primary care health provider Parsley Health and men’s customized skincare range Geologie. Glow Botanica’s majority investor is an unnamed male celebrity and his wife. 

Herrera knows firsthand that many of the health symptoms women experience have a common cause: hormonal imbalances. Herrera, a New York resident who grew up in Spain and lived the United Kingdom for years, spent her entire career in beauty prior to becoming an entrepreneur. She began at Kao around the time the Japanese conglomerate acquired haircare brand John Frieda. Later, while she was a partner at Pangea Laboratories, parent company of Medik8, she suffered from stage four endometriosis. 

“I was in pain. I went through five surgeries. I went through infertility, you name it,” she says, continuing, “I experienced surgical menopause, which is not fun. What usually takes a woman around seven years happened kind of overnight. When they perform a full hysterectomy, that’s what usually happens. Your body goes a bit crazy. That’s when my interest in the hormonal space started. My first thought was, ‘How is this possible?’ I had no idea about hormonal health.”

Her interest in the hormonal space morphed into much more with Hormone University, an effort to share what she was learning about hormones with other women. Consumer products targeting symptoms, not ages, were on Herrera’s roadmap since the outset of Hormone University, and she launched Glow Botanica late last year with a single product, Tummy Butter. Two years in the making, the product, which is priced at $46 for a 1.7-oz jar, has a topical supplement formula that avoids estrogen-, progesterone-, and endocrine-disrupting chemicals. A natural alternative to hormone replacement therapy with ingredients such as marshmallow root and chaste tree, it’s designed to soothe bloating, cramps, hot flashes and mood swings, to name a few hormone imbalance-related symptoms. 

Herrrera wasn’t able to undergo hormone replacement therapy, the traditional treatment route for women going through menopause, because of a severe bad reaction. “That’s what really pushed me. I was like, ‘My goodness, there are so many women that have no choice or the market doesn’t offer a natural choice,” she says. Speaking of Tummy Butter, she adds, “It was a long process because I really wanted to find something that could help me get through that overnight menopause.” 

“I really wanted to find something that could help me get through that overnight menopause.” 

Prior to bringing Tummy Butter to market, Glow Botanica conducted a clinical trial with 100 women between the ages of 28 and 55, with half of the participants experiencing PMS and half experiencing menopausal symptoms. The participants used Tummy Butter daily for 60 days, two full menstrual cycles, though Herrera says results from it are noticeable after 30 days of daily use. 

The trial showed that 64% detected a reduction in symptoms, 51% noticed mood improvements, and 70% stopped using their regular treatments after trying Tummy Butter. “I cried when I got the results because I would’ve stopped the process,” says Herrera. “For me, it was a question of integrity. And the fact that I went through this, I know what it’s like. So, it was very important to invest in [the trial] before launching in market.”

She connected with gynecologic oncologist and pelvic surgeon Elizabeth Poynor, lead scientific advisor to Glow Botanica, via Martha Stewart. She met the famous tastemaker, television personality and businesswoman by chance at a party and mentioned her plan to launch a hormone wellness company. “She was the one that recommended Dr. Poynor. I emailed her the next day,” says Herrera.

Poynor had already heard of Hormone University and understood what Herrera was attempting to accomplish with Glow Botanica. She says, “When Herrera approached me to join as a scientific advisor, I saw her mission was clear: to help millions of women struggling from hormonal imbalances by creating formulas supported by research and trial results that speak for themselves.”

Tummy Butter is currently available on Glow Botanica’s website. Herrera plans to place it in niche and clean beauty retailers this year. Glow Botanica’s products are made in Europe, but it’s looking to set up American manufacturing as well. The formulations will remain produced in Europe. 

Glow Botanica is on pace to have eight products total on the market in 2022. The brand’s second offering, ​​All-Natural Flaxseed and Lavender Pad, $48, is available on Amazon and brand’s site. “The pad is heated. It’s a good category on Amazon and because it’s such an easy product to understand,” says Herrera. “Tummy Butter is different. You need the videos, you want the audience to understand us a bit more before we go there.”