CHF 1.3m · Seed · Wellness & Beauty · St. Moritz, Switzerland
Swiss health-products company Bee People has closed a CHF 1.3m seed round to expand its propolis-based supplement range. The St. Moritz company said in a 30 September announcement that commitments exceeded its target by more than 30%, with the capital earmarked for research and development, sales and international growth.
A product and distribution expansion
Bee People develops nutritional supplements using propolis and other ingredients from the beehive. Its range includes capsules and honey-propolis blends, manufactured in Switzerland. The company says its propolis extract is produced with a patented process designed to improve the bioavailability of phenolic compounds; its support materials describe external laboratory testing for total polyphenol content. Those are company claims, but they show the product strategy: standardise a naturally variable ingredient and sell it as a repeatable consumer-health product rather than as an unprocessed commodity.
That positioning creates a commercial challenge as well as an opportunity. Bee People has to build trust around quality and scientific substantiation while teaching customers what propolis is. The company says it is already expanding through Swiss pharmacies, drugstores, specialist retailers and e-commerce. Its funding announcement also says it has gained an initial foothold in Asia, where propolis is better known, and entered Germany through its own online shop in September 2026.
The combination of retail and direct online distribution matters here. Pharmacy and specialist-retail placement can lend credibility and put the product in front of existing supplement buyers, while the direct channel gives Bee People control over education, repeat purchases and market-by-market launches. The new money is intended to support both sides of that model: expanding the product portfolio and the sales footprint at the same time.
Experienced founders, returning backers
Founders Marie So and Daniel Meyer previously built Swiss e-mobility company EGO Movement, expanded it internationally and sold it to TVS Motor Group. Bee People says several investors from that period have backed the new company again. The round also includes unnamed Swiss entrepreneurs and investors, health specialists and people with experience relevant to expansion in Asia.
That founder history does not remove the execution risk in a crowded supplements market, but it is directly relevant to the plan. Bee People is trying to turn a Swiss-made propolis range into an international consumer-health brand, and the financing links product development with distribution rather than treating them as separate phases. The next proof point will be whether its German direct-to-consumer launch and broader retail strategy can generate durable repeat demand beyond its home market.
