The husband-and-wife team behind superfood brand Rheal are to crowdfund again after generating more than £50m sales since appearing on Dragons’ Den in 2021.
Charlotte and Sean Ali, who married in 2023, set up the business – initially known as Super U – in South Shields in 2017 after the then-students hunted down natural ingredients to help improve Charlotte’s health.
Struggling for energy and facing poor immune health and digestive issues after being diagnosed with Coeliac Disease, she saw a huge benefit after incorporating different superfoods into her diet.
The health issues did not end there: a year after co-founding the business, Sean was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He immediately began chemotherapy and radiotherapy – and has been in remission since 2019.
After a successful pitch on the BBC show, they ultimately walked away from a joint deal agreed with Peter Jones and Tej Lalvani and instead took to crowdfunding platform Seedrs, where they raised £1m.
Lalvani would later come on board as a private investor and see Rheal grow to more than 1m customers. In the last three years it has generated £50m in sales – mostly online but also via partnerships with the likes of Holland & Barrett, Tesco, Boots and Sainsbury’s – with £25m of that coming in 2024 alone.
The certified B Corp brand launched in the US in 2023 and recently moved into a larger factory in Sunderland.
Their products include Clean Greens (an immunity blend), Berry Beauty (a skin health blend) and Coco Dream (hot cacao with Reishi mushroom).
Now they are inviting potential investors to join the priority access list for their next crowdfunding campaign on Republic Europe (formerly Seedrs).