HBAN (Halo Business Angel Network) recently announced that the newly formed business angel Food Syndicate has invested in its first company, Elivar.

Elivar has raised €700,000 from multiple sources including the HBAN food syndicate, Enterprise Ireland and other private investors, to support the ongoing development of its sports nutrition products and brand.

On the back of this investment, Elivar will create ten new jobs by the end of 2015. The positions will be in the areas of food science, production, ecommerce, marketing and finance.

Elivar’s main markets are the UK and Ireland, from where 90% of its current sales emanate. It also exports to Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands and is looking to expand its sales channels across Europe in the coming year.

Elivar was founded in Dublin by Donal Hanrahan and Len Dunne in 2012. It develops a range of sports nutrition products, specifically formulated and tailored for the over 35 age group. Both Donal and Len trained and rowed at an international level in their 20s and now, in their 40s are active in endurance sports. They found that while there is abundance of sports nutrition products that support endurance and recovery for young and elite athletes, there was nothing tailored for the needs of their specific age group, despite having different nutritional needs.

Elivar’s core products have been developed with nutritionists and food scientists to deliver a full nutrition system, providing the correct levels of energy, protein and micro-nutrients to athletes who are over 35.

Donal Hanrahan, founder of Elivar commented on the significance of this investment: “While our initial funding was required to bring Elivar to market, the HBAN Food Syndicate investment also provides us with the active support of some of Ireland’s leading food entrepreneurs. In the long term it is their combined experience which will help us develop Elivar to its fullest potential, as a successful Irish food company operating in a global market place.”