$100M BRAND STORY

Puresport’s Play: Clean-Certified CBD to Global Wellness Scale

If you've scrolled any fitness feed recently, you've likely spotted athletes rolling Puresport balm or cracking open their signature Ultra Electrolytes. Launched in December 2018 by ex-rugby internationals Grayson Hart and Adam Ashe, Puresport transformed chronic pain into purpose by pioneering CBD and performance formulas safe enough for elite athletes.

In April 2025, the brand closed a £3.6 million funding round to supercharge UK dominance and global expansion. This is an insider’s playbook for wellness operators looking to build brands rooted in community and clinical trust.

Are They Funded or Bootstrapped?

Puresport kicked things off as a fully founder-funded operation. But capital arrived quickly.

• In August 2022, Puresport raised £1.3 million via crowdfunding in under five hours, backed by rugby stars like Finn Russell and Greig Laidlaw

• By April 2025, Redrice Ventures and Five Seasons Ventures added £3.6 million in growth capital

This funding is helping accelerate retail rollouts at Selfridges, expand internationally, and invest in R&D across the functional wellness spectrum.

Their Origin Story

Grayson Hart played professional rugby in New Zealand, Australia, and the UK. When degenerative knee injuries left him reliant on opioids, he sought a safer path. Enter CBD. But as a drug-tested athlete, nothing on the market felt trustworthy. He and co-founder Adam Ashe set out to develop the world’s first fully certified CBD range for pro athletes.

They weren’t just solving a personal problem. They were taking on an industry that lacked regulation, transparency, and trust.

Core Customer Base

• Drug-tested pro and amateur athletes

• Functional wellness enthusiasts exploring CBD, mushrooms, nootropics, and hydration stacks

• Community-led fitness participants across the UK, US, and Oceania

• DTC shoppers aligned with clean-label, science-backed products

Puresport’s Run Clubs alone have drawn over 11,000 attendees globally, proving the brand isn’t just selling products. It’s cultivating a tribe.

How Did They Grow So Sustainably? (P&L View)

Clinical validation as CAC arbitrage

• First CBD brand globally to be certified by both BSCG and Informed Sport, unlocking trust and athlete distribution

• Used trust to drive earned media and convert wellness skeptics

Community as growth loop

• Founded Puresport Run Clubs in London, NYC, and NZ—over 11,000 attendees to date

• Events drove deep LTV by converting IRL connection into repeat DTC orders

Product line evolution = LTV stack

• Started with CBD oils, added nootropics, mushrooms, and hydration sachets

• Built a routine-based product suite to extend usage occasions and basket size

Frictionless conversion flow

• Added magic cart upsells, boosting reorder rate by 15 percent

Key Milestones

Influencer Marketing Mix

Puresport skipped the celebrity flash and focused on micro-trust:

• Rugby legends like Finn Russell and Jonny Gray doubled as investors and advocates

• Wellness influencers (micro and macro) hosted run clubs, shared real-life use cases, and educated their audiences on CBD safety

• Podcast features with hosts like Dr. Rangan Chatterjee gave the brand a platform in the wellness thought-leadership circuit

No discount codes. No affiliate clutter. Just real people who actually use the products.

Their Marketing X-Factor

Puresport is what happens when clinical credibility meets community culture.

They didn’t chase trends. They built safety into the product. They didn’t scale fast. They scaled relationally. Their run clubs, content, and even product education materials are rooted in function, not fluff.

They’re not just in the CBD aisle. They’re in wellness routines, sports recovery kits, and sleep stacks.

Takeaways for Wellness Operators

1. Build a routine, not just a SKU: Functional categories win when they become a part of daily life

2. Lead with credibility: Clinical trust can cut CAC and open retailer doors faster than performance claims

3. Own the offline: In-person experiences generate LTV and organic growth no Meta campaign can match

4. Layer SKUs by function, not trend: Nootropics, hydration, adaptogens—every new product solves a real problem

5. Use crowdfunding as marketing: Seedrs gave them capital, but more importantly, 1200+ new evangelists