Fast forward to now, MyoMaster has made huge strides in the sportstech space, and was even featured on BBC’s Dragon’s Den season 21. Four years since we spoke to the co-founders, Startups Magazine caught up with Lottie to discuss the whirlwind the startup has experienced since our last chat.

Life in the fast lane

Looking back at MyoMaster’s last four years, there’s so much to talk about, and the growth that the startup has experienced has been exponential.

Lottie mused on the journey: “A lot has changed in the last couple of years. I don't think I was even working full time in the business when we spoke in 2020. I quit my job to work full time in the business in 2021, and in my mind, that's really the start of the business and when we decided to pursue it full time.

“Since then, we’ve been backed by Google, we’ve raised about £800,000 from private investors, we appeared on BBC’s Dragon’s Den earlier this year, which went viral. We’ve also gone from making around £250k in 2020, to being a multi-million pound business that’s profitable and scaling around 500% a year.”

Walking into the den

It’s hard not to mention MyoMaster’s viral appearance on BBC’s Dragon’s Den, where the company walked away with £100,000 in investment from Gary Neville and Sara Davies. MyoMaster and its co-founders have been the breakout stars of the season, and they continue to ride the popularity of that virality.

They filmed the show back in May 2023, after the producers reached out to Lottie. Speaking about the experience, she explained: “When it came out, we were blown away. We hired a cinema to watch the episode with our friends, family, and people who supported us on this journey, and then we went to sleep. The next day we woke up to thousands of DMs, coverage in every national newspaper, and over the following weeks the episode continued to go viral.

“For me personally, it was an incredibly positive and uplifting experience. I don’t even know if I saw one bad comment.”

When an opportunity like Dragon’s Den appears, you need to grab it with both hands. This is a sentiment that Lottie strongly believes in: “People always ask me ‘did Dragon’s Den change your life and the trajectory of the business?’

“I think opportunity is preparation meets luck. […] And we were in a great position, we knew exactly how to leverage the opportunity, and we really did. We have an amazing team here with great content creators, and they took that ‘five minutes of fame’, and made it really sweat for us.

“So, I don't think I can say that Dragon’s Den has changed the company. I think we took an opportunity, and we've built an amazing team with great products, and that has changed the trajectory of the company.”

The growing product range

MyoMaster is the home of human optimisation. Its product offering includes massage guns, ice baths, compression boots, muscle balms, and most recently, saunas.

Over the years, MyoMaster’s product range has expanded, and there’s more releases planned for the future. “Our vision is to help everyday people who want to feel their absolute best, to have products that make it easy to do that, but that fit into super busy lifestyles. That vision leads our product development.”

Back in 2020, MyoMaster specifically focused on sports and athletes, but this has evolved to serving anyone who is interested in staying healthy, this pivot being led by its customers.

“We're really good at staying close to our customer: understanding what they want, what gets them excited, what their concerns are. For instance, we're launching into sleep next year, and we know the number one concern of a lot of our community is that they don't sleep well, and they struggle with the impact that it has on them.

“We've moved away from those very hardcore sporting products, to now having a range of ice baths and saunas.”

Mastering the challenges

Startup founders are no strangers to facing challenges. Opening up about the main three she has experienced, Lottie elaborated: “Firstly, I became a mum at a similar time to starting my company. They say the typical startup founder works 80 hours a week, which is basically every waking moment. So to do that, have a family at the same time, and be showing up as a decent parent, is a juggle, and has been an ongoing battle for me. But it’s getting easier now the company is a bit bigger.

“The second big challenge for a lot of founders, and particularly black and brown founders and women, access to cash is extremely difficult. I think 0.02% of black and brown women manage to raise capital. So raising the money we’ve needed has been very challenging. The flip side of that is because it's been so hard, it's meant we haven't raised that much money, so we've been really frugal and we’re really profitable. I think we've become a better business because of it.

“The third challenge is about self-belief. A lot of this journey is demoralising and it’s difficult to keep showing up every day. So flexing that muscle and erasing self-doubt, and having conviction in your idea, is a real challenge.”

A winning wellness brand

“A highlight has been the personal growth that I don't think I would have had if I hadn't have done this journey,” Lottie mused. “I think if I'd have stayed working in a company, I just wouldn't have grown as fast, and I wouldn’t have evolved as far.”

When it comes to this growth and dedication, Lottie emphasises this is definitely a lesson she has learned on the journey. “If you don't quit, you can't lose.

“People say that businesses fail because they run out of money, or because it's not the right idea. I believe people's businesses fail because they give up. If you really wanted, you could find more money or do something else. I've learned about the power of refusing to quit, and how much of a gamechanger that is.”

Feedback and validation from customers is always a highlight as well. “We sell something that adds benefits to people's lives and makes people feel good, so the feedback and vibes that we get from our customers and community is so positive.”

Looking to the finish line

Having just launched its sauna range, MyoMaster has more product launches on the horizon. “The way that we plan to structure the future is to take one protocol that improves your health and wellbeing and build an entire product range that is high-quality and accessible around that. We added in hot, and we were doing cold, so that you can do the hot and cold protocol. The next big focus for us is sleep. We haven't decided on the category after that yet, but we've got a couple of big ideas.”

The business has plenty of goals for next year, and its big one is to scale to eight-figures of revenue whilst staying profitable. The other big goal is to expand internationally. So far, all of the company’s growth has been off the back of UK sales, so this next phase will take MyoMaster global.

MyoMaster is currently looking for investment, which will be the driving force in this next phase of growth. The startup is well-equipped to continue scaling, and we look forward to seeing where this new phase will take the company.

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2024 issue of Startups Magazine. Click here to subscribe