Key Takeaways
- Litt and Gillman co-founded Hiya Health in 2019 to bring a “smarter” kids’ multivitamin to market.
- Here’s how they took their self-funded business to a $205 million acquisition and over $134 million in annual sales.
When Darren Litt’s daughters were little, he asked their pediatrician for tips to keep them healthy. The doctor recommended a daily multivitamin, but when Litt ordered the brand on Amazon, the product that arrived gave him pause: The gummy vitamins were stuck together in their plastic tub with a layer of sugar on the bottom.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hiya Health. Darren Litt.
“ I thought, If I won’t give this to my own kids, why would anybody?” Litt recalls. “So I asked friends, ‘Is this what you give your kids?’ And almost everyone said the same thing: ‘Yeah, kids like the taste, but we’re not sure it’s good for them.’”
One of those friends was Litt’s former co-worker Adam Gillman; he had the same impression, and a light bulb went off: What if they built a “smarter version” of the type of multivitamin they wanted for their own children? “ No sugar, no gummy junk, just what kids actually need,” Litt says.
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It was 2019 and the beginning of Hiya Health, the children’s health and wellness brand that USANA acquired in a $205 million cash deal last year.
We applied a Silicon Valley discipline to children’s health.
Both co-founders had a professional background in technology, which came in handy during Hiya’s product-development phase, Litt notes. Litt and Gillman had to ship, test and improve constantly, closely listening to feedback from other parents — their first formula changed three times in year one.
“To put it simply, we applied a Silicon Valley discipline to children’s health,” Litt explains.
Litt also notes that Hiya is self-funded; the co-founders “stayed incredibly disciplined,” particularly around cash flow, investing every dollar into improving the product or deepening trust with parents.
Related: These Brothers Started a Business to Improve an Everyday Task. They Made Their First Products in the Garage — Now They’ve Raised Over $100 Million.
Hiya launched as a direct-to-consumer product with a clear incentive for parents — vitamins for kids without unnecessary sugar and extras — but the brand also needed to win over its young consumers in order to keep growing and have a lasting impact in the children’s health and wellness space.
Through those thousands of conversations with parents in the early days, the business developed an intentional approach to the “entire experience” with its product. “We see our product not just as the vitamin you put in your mouth, but an experience that kids love,” Litt says. Some of those experiential elements include a refillable bottle that kids can decorate with stickers and a game that changes every month.
Additionally, Hiya’s strategic partnerships with kid-favorite brands like Disney and Mattel have helped accelerate its growth trajectory. Hiya wanted its potential partners to share its commitment to putting kids first and reinforce the young consumers’ enthusiasm for the brand.
“Kids don’t wake up excited about vitamins per se,” Litt says, “but they wake up excited about Disney princesses, Pixar characters, Hot Wheels and Barbie.”
Related: This Mom’s Garage Side Hustle for Kids Became a Business With $1 Billion Revenue
We refused to compromise on safety, quality and testing.
Hiya’s growth strategy has paid off: The business is projecting more than $134 million in net sales for 2025, with over one million parents purchasing its DTC subscription.
According to Litt, two significant challenges have emerged over the course of Hiya’s rapid growth: the ongoing need to change the perception that widespread “sugar gummies” are as healthful as parents might believe, and continuing to scale the business responsibly.
“ We grew very fast, probably as fast as any direct-to-consumer company out there, but we refused to compromise on safety, quality and testing,” Litt says. “We overcame both [challenges] by staying grounded in a core Hiya principle: It’s kids first, always.”
Related: After a 12-Year-Old’s Side Hustle Made Over $4,000 in 1 Day, He and His Dad Grew the Business to Nearly $50,000 a Month: ‘It Takes Commitment’
These days, Litt’s and Gillman’s roles at Hiya remain much the same as they were before the brand’s acquisition. Litt still serves as CEO and Gillman as president.
“My job is to build the brand parents trust most for their kids’ health,” Litt says. “Now I have a much bigger engine behind us to do it.”
Your instincts help you see what others missed.
Looking forward, Litt sees Hiya evolving into a complete kids’ health system spanning hydration, gut health, immune support and more. The co-founder hopes the brand can help build healthy habits into every part of a child’s day.
To other entrepreneurs considering starting a business of their own, especially one in wellness, Litt emphasizes the importance of trusting your instincts and listening to the data — because both matter.
“ But don’t overindex on either,” Litt says. “Your instincts help you see what others missed [and solve problems], and the data keeps you honest.”
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Key Takeaways
- Litt and Gillman co-founded Hiya Health in 2019 to bring a “smarter” kids’ multivitamin to market.
- Here’s how they took their self-funded business to a $205 million acquisition and over $134 million in annual sales.
When Darren Litt’s daughters were little, he asked their pediatrician for tips to keep them healthy. The doctor recommended a daily multivitamin, but when Litt ordered the brand on Amazon, the product that arrived gave him pause: The gummy vitamins were stuck together in their plastic tub with a layer of sugar on the bottom.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Hiya Health. Darren Litt.
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