Ancient + Brave is braving the American market.
The popular British wellness brand known for collagen is launching in the United States today via direct-to-consumer distribution and Amazon following its sales skyrocketing 1,400% in the last two years. It’s making its stateside debut with seven powder and capsule supplement hero products priced from $46 to $68: True Collagen, Wild Collagen, Noble Collagen, True Creatine, True Hydrate, Triple Magnesium and True Nightcap. The brand also sells functional mushroom tinctures, collagen-infused matcha and coffee blends, and other items that it will slowly introduce to the U.S. market, where it’s planning a bigger splash next year.
Ancient + Brave is entering the U.S. as consumers are hungry to incorporate wellness ingredients like collagen and creatine into their wellness routines. According to Grand View Research, the global collagen market was valued at approximately $9.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach $18.7 billion by 2030, driven by consumers’ mounting interest in time-tested ingredients for skin health, joint function and overall wellness.
In January, Ancient + Brave will focus on generating buzz on the West Coast with a three-week pop-up slated for Abbot Kinney Boulevard in the Los Angeles neighborhood Venice. Ensuing events are expected in New York. In Europe, Ancient + Brave is sold at Boots, Planet Organic, Muse & Heroine and Niche Beauty. The brand has partnered with sales agency Creme Collective to bolster its business in the U.S.
In the U.S., lawyer-turned-entrepreneur Kate Prince, founder of Ancient + Brave, which she calls a “whole body health wellness brand,” estimates her brand will be up against 130 dedicated collagen brands. She believes its approach to sourcing will cut through the noise. She says, “What we feel we’re bringing, which is so different, is the sourcing and the transparency of our products.”
Most brands source their bovine collagen from South American cattle, and Ancient + Brave initially did, too, but it’s moved to cattle in the European Union to have greater assurance that the cattle it comes from aren’t given hormones and antibiotics. Prince says, “There’s just a cleaner, more open, transparent supply chain, and we think that builds a much more superior product.”
There are several types of collagen that are determined by the part of the cattle they’re derived from. Collagen powder is largely type 1 from skin, bones, tendons and ligaments. Ancient + Brave’s Noble Collagen is distinct because it’s made up of type II collagen or collagen from cartilage. It provides targeted support for bones and joints, which is especially beneficial for perimenopausal and postmenopausal consumers as well as people healing from joint injuries.
“What we feel we’re bringing, which is so different, is the sourcing and the transparency of our products.”
British Olympian Kelly Holmes, a two-time gold medal winner in middle-distance track races, is an ambassador for Ancient + Brave who’s a fan of Noble Collagen. Struggling to keep running in her 50s, Prince reports the supplement enabled her to get out of bed without “creaking.” In the United Kingdom, women aged 40 to 55 are the lion’s share of Ancient + Brave’s customer base.
While that demographic is expected to play a strong role in Ancient + Brave’s customers in the U.S., Prince expects its reach to broaden in the country. She points out the brand has an opportunity to connect with American thirtysomethings and have them deepen their relationship with the brand as they age.
Prince launched Ancient + Brave from her home with 70,000 pounds sterling or about $94,000 in 2018. By the end of 2022, it grew to over 1 million pounds or about $1.3 million in revenues and enlarged its team to 10 people. In 2023, Ancient + Brave registered a 703% uptick in sales and jumped to 10 million pounds or roughly $13.4 million in sales. It hit 40 employees and opened dedicated offices.
Ancient + Brave’s sales doubled in 2024 to around 20 million pounds or almost $27 million, and it was named the U.K.’s fifth fastest-growing private company of the year by The Sunday Times. The brand’s sales are forecast to more than double this year to exceed 40 million pounds or almost $54 million. Its headcount is up to 140, including about 15 nutritionists.
One of the members of Ancient + Brave’s nutrition team, immunologist Jenna Macciochi, joined the brand in 2023 as VP of science and innovation. Along with English speakers in the U.K., the brand’s nutrition team contains German and Spanish speakers based in Germany and Spain, and it’s looking to hire Americans on the ground in the U.S. Prince underscores that expertise and consumer education are “the heartbeat of the brand.”
In December 2023, private equity firm Piper invested 7 million pounds or over $9.4 million into Ancient + Brave, marking its first institutional investment. Piper partner Leon Hughes joined Ancient + Brave’s board with the deal. About half of the investment was put toward buying out angel investors that had backed the brand in 2019. The rest is still in the bank.
Prince says, “Although [Piper] invested in the company, we actually were very profitable and continue to maintain our profitability and haven’t spent a penny of their money even to this day.” She adds, “What having cash in the bank gives you is knowing that you can pay salaries for a very long time. You can hedge against that and build out your portfolio of products, but also stockpile ingredients in case the world goes into any other crisis. We [built] our fulfillment house…It enabled us to cope with the growth that was then coming even more. Cash flow was never a problem.”
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