The UK-based start-up aims to provide businesses with credible clinical evidence in months rather than years, helping strengthen both their marketing strategies and company valuations
“Increasingly, investors are looking at the strength of clinical evidence behind products and ingredients, so we’re working to be the fastest and most credible way for companies to generate that evidence,” Nathan Phillips, founder and CEO at StudySetGo, told NutraIngredients
The new matchmaking platform has been created in response to growing demand from both nutrition companies and investors for stronger clinical evidence, Phillips explained
Clinical research is increasingly becoming a necessity rather than a competitive advantage, as companies look to differentiate themselves in an increasingly crowded market, he noted. However, many businesses lack the capital to fund them
At the same time, he said investors are keen to back promising companies but often want greater confidence that their investment will be used to create long-term value
“We’re trying to bridge that gap by connecting investors with companies that are committed to generating clinical evidence,” he said. “Ultimately, the goal is to make the nutrition industry more evidence-based and more credible.”
Initially, the service will operate through a personalized matchmaking process, where nutrition companies submit details including their investment deck, fundraising target, minimum investment requirements and overall value proposition
Investors, meanwhile, will provide information on the types of businesses they are interested in, their preferred sectors and minimum investment size. StudySetGo will then assess both sides and facilitate introductions between suitable matches
“If demand grows significantly, we’ll invest in building a more automated software platform, but initially it will be based on personalized matchmaking,” Phillips said
Phillips expects strong demand from nutrition companies seeking funding, particularly those looking to generate clinical evidence to support their products
He said the greater challenge will be expanding the platform’s network of investors who specifically value evidence-backed businesses. While there are naturally fewer investors than companies, he noted that interest in clinically validated nutrition products continues to grow
“Private equity firms in the nutraceutical sector have told us they evaluate businesses on two key pillars: commercial performance and clinical evidence,” he said. “Clinical trials increasingly underpin company valuations, so we’re aiming to make that evidence more accessible.”
Furthermore, Phillips noted that as the nutrition industry has grown, competition has intensified, meaning companies need stronger ways to differentiate themselves
“Without clinical evidence they’re often competing largely on branding and marketing,” he said “We’re trying to help investors identify companies that are committed to building genuine evidence behind their products, rather than simply investing in marketing alone.”
He added that the areas attracting the greatest investor interest reflect the nutrition industry’s fastest-growing trends
“Women’s health is growing rapidly and there’s still significant scientific research to be done because female physiology is more complex,” he said. “We’re also seeing strong interest around GLP-1 support products, with several studies already under discussion
“Then gut health—particularly fiber, prebiotics and postbiotics—is another area where demand is growing and where there is still considerable opportunity to generate new clinical evidence.”
Phillips founded StudySetGo two years ago after becoming frustrated by the slow pace of human research during his Ph.D. and questioning why generating clinical evidence took so long
“Traditional research is limited by geography,” he said. “During my Ph.D., I had to recruit over 100 participants just from the Glasgow area, all of whom had to visit the lab in person. That recruitment process is incredibly slow.”
Recognizing that nutrition companies need clinical evidence to support marketing claims but often wait years to generate it, StudySetGo evolved into a research organization conducting decentralized, randomized controlled trials. The company now runs studies across the UK and the US, with plans to expand further into Europe
“With decentralized trials, we can recruit across the entire UK, or nationally across the US, which gives us access to a much larger participant pool,” Phillips said. “We also recruit participants through digital marketing, using channels like Meta and Google. Because participants don’t need to attend a physical lab, we remove many of the bottlenecks that traditionally slow research down.”
Participants submit health data remotely through the company’s app, completing questionnaires on areas including sleep and gut health. Meanwhile, research-grade home testing kits and technologies such as continuous glucose monitors enable biological data to be collected without laboratory visits
“Many performance assessments can also be conducted remotely, meaning laboratory-quality research can now be carried out from home across a wide variety of study types,” Phillips added
Looking ahead, Phillips said success for the platform would mean helping multiple nutrition companies secure investment to fund clinical trials
“Ultimately, we want earlier-stage businesses to access clinical evidence much sooner than has traditionally been possible,” he said. “One of the biggest barriers hasn’t just been cost; it’s also been time. If companies believe clinical trials will take two or three years, many aren’t sure they will still be in business by the time the results arrive
“If we can reduce that timeline to six or nine months, companies can begin using that evidence in their marketing much sooner, making clinical research a far more realistic investment.”
“As both a researcher and someone who cares about health, I’d like to see more companies backed by robust evidence.”
