What’s Really Inside Your Supplements? This Founder Is Uncovering the Truth Behind a $180 Billion Industry

According to the the author she recently wrote about creatine and profiled Jeff Byers, co-founder of Momentous, for a reason: integrity matters. When it comes to what we put in our bodies, especially for entrepreneurs aiming to optimize energy, recovery and longevity, founders and consumers deserve transparency and truth.  And yet, the supplement industry is booming with very little of either.

We’re in the middle of a health optimization gold rush. Creatine gummies, NAD+ capsules, sleep pills and brain-boosting stacks are everywhere. Scroll Instagram, walk into Erewhon or search Amazon, and you’ll find thousands of options. The global supplement industry is growing fast and is expected to top $240 billion by 2028, yet many of these products do not contain what they claim to. You may be spending $30, $50 or $90 on a supplement and getting barely a trace of the active ingredient, or in some cases, nothing at all.

Unlike pharmaceuticals, supplements don’t require FDA approval before hitting the market. That creates a loophole where products can launch quickly, and claims, unless dangerously false, go largely unchecked. And it’s not just obscure or small brands. Some of the top-selling supplements on Amazon are underdelivering, misleading or worse.   That’s where Steve Martocci and SuppCo come in.

Martocci, best known for founding the music-tech platform Splice, is now on a mission to fix one of the most frustrating problems in wellness: a lack of transparency. SuppCo is a health tech startup that independently tests supplements and publishes public reports that give consumers one thing the industry often avoids: truth.

The supplement industry is a $180 billion market, yet it’s filled with confusion, noise and a multitude of products that don’t deliver what they promise. With SuppCo, Martocci is on a mission to transform how people discover, manage and optimize their supplement routines.

SuppCo tested five popular creatine gummy brands sold on Amazon. Only two passed. One contained less than 25% of the labeled amount.

SuppCo recently published a report on NAD+ supplements, a trending ingredient in the longevity and cellular energy space, which tested nine products and was even more revealing.

1. 4 passed (Double Wood, Rho Nutrition Liposomal, NatureBell and Thinbi), with Thinbi exceeding its claim at 103%.
2. 5 failed, including Maripolio, which showed 0% of its claimed NAD+.
3. Others tested at less than 3% of the listed amount on the label.
4. NAD+ was the perfect follow-up to the creatine testing series because it represents everything confusing about the supplement space right now. Martocci explained that NAD+ is one of the fastest-rising compounds in longevity and biohacking, endorsed by scientists and influencers, but it’s also one of the most confusing for consumers.

we see brands cutting corners on things we can measure, like certifications and testing transparency, they’re usually cutting corners on things we can’t see too, like what’s actually in the bottle. As NAD+ continues to trend for its role in cellular repair and longevity, the gap between marketing and reality becomes even more concerning.  If you’re a wellness founder, product integrity is not just a checkbox. It is the heartbeat of your brand.

The next generation of wellness brands will not win on hype. They’ll win on data. Consumers are becoming smarter and more demanding, and they want to see the data. SuppCo has already rated over 700 brands and 22,000+ products, and their TrustScore has become remarkably predictive of testing. Now, quality brands are reaching out not just to request a TrustScore, but to get feedback on how to improve their quality practices.

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