COMPANY

Name: HoneyColony

Legal Name: HoneyColony LLC

Location: Los Angeles

Founded: 2012

Founder(s): Jan Wellmann, Maryam Henein

Website: https://www.honeycolony.com

Social Media Following: 8.5k followers on Twitter, 115k followers on Facebook, 11.8k followers on Instagram

INDUSTRY – Natural & Organic Personal Care

Size: $11.1B in 2017 (Global Market, Source: Research and Markets Report)

Projections: $29.7B in 2026 at a CAGR of 11.1% (2018-2026) (Global Market, Source: Research and Markets Report)

Introduction

HoneyColony is an e-commerce platform for high-quality natural and organic personal care products, information about such products and their use to support a healthy and organic lifestyle, and standards which promote ‘humanity, honesty, and fair-trade practices’. The company provides curated products and health supplements that can be bought on the site, referrals to products which can’t, user and expert-generated content on wellness trends and health products, and personalized health and wellness consultations with the founder, Maryam Henein. 

The aesthetic of the website and the nature and pricing of the products sold indicate that its a website primarily aimed at women with a reasonable amount of disposable income, and an interest in natural and organic products. HoneyColony ships its products locally and internationally, although costs vary by region when shipping internationally.

The Product

HoneyColony uses its team of health enthusiasts and experts to write and curate deeply-researched content (or “wisdom”) about various topics including plant medicine, parenting, sustainability, nutrition, superfoods, and recipes. The wisdom extends beyond products into wellness, giving tips on posture, sleeplessness, allergies, and even dealing with vegans.

These articles complement the range of products by affiliates of the website sold on the website. These products include products like moisturizers, lubricants, soaps, and sunscreen, with soaps starting from $4 to a lubricant priced at $75 and anti-aging patchouli flavored moisturizer at $119; superfoods like chia seeds at $9.99 a pack, African raw honey at $25, and branded superfood mixes priced at $289; natural antibiotics and immunity-boosting products and devices, like the popular colloidal silver healer at $275. The “Wisdom” available on the site is meant to “empower you to be your own best health advocate”, yet often tends to espouse the products sold and promoted on the site itself.

The site also showcases “referrals” or products by companies that are not affiliated to the website but have been approved and reviewed by HoneyColony’s panel of health experts.

Customers can also sign up for a newsletter that keeps them abreast of developments and trends in the health and wellness world, and offer individual consultations with the company’s founder to find a wellness (or purchase) plan that suits their needs best.

Origin and Founding Team

HoneyColony was founded by director and natural health enthusiast Maryam Heinen, and entrepreneur Jan Wellmann.

Maryam Henein is an investigative journalist, functional medicine consultant and the director of the award-winning documentary Vanishing of the Bees. Her interest in natural functional medicine was sparked by a near-death experience nearly a decade ago, which also sparked her interest in the environment. She founded HoneyColony to join her skills as a functional medicine consultant, her interest in the environment and skills as an investigative journalist.

Jan Wellmann is an entrepreneur and the founder of the health solutions product Energy for Living International, besides HoneyColony. He has previously worked in ventures in advertising, film production and health, with experience in packaging venture rounds and facilitating financing for startups.

Performance and Trends

HoneyColony raised $80,000 in seed funding in January 2013. HoneyColony was also granted a “pay it forward loan” from The Pollination Project, which provides funding to eco-friendly companies and business, in August 2013.