VDS Conversations: Scaling a european brand with Olistic

VDS 2025 once again established itself as one of the leading meeting points for the European innovation ecosystem, bringing together founders, investors, corporates, and institutional leaders to discuss growth, technology, and the future of business. Over the course of two days, VDS hosted a series of high-value strategic conversations focused on the real challenges of scaling a European brand from Europe, combining vision, execution, and sustainability.

In this context, Yolanda Pérez, Director of BStartup and Hub Empresa at Banco Sabadell, sat down with Pablo Nueno, co-founder and CEO of Olistic, in a conversation that explored the journey of one of Europe’s fastest-growing scaleups and extracted key insights on scaling a European brand, multichannel strategy, and profitability from day one.

Nueno explained how Olistic was born with a clear focus: addressing women’s hair health from within, through a differentiated product grounded in science, clinical studies, and patented ingredients. In a market dominated by topical solutions and traditional pharmaceutical beauty brands, the company identified a true “blue ocean” by betting on an innovative supplement, an approachable brand, and a narrative aligned with a highly defined and well-segmented community.

Early growth was driven by a subscription-based DTC model, which was still uncommon in Spain at the time of launch and allowed the company to validate the product quickly thanks to high repeat purchase rates. From there, influencer marketing, digital dermatologist endorsement, and other digital channels were key to scaling the business during its first year.

One of Olistic’s most distinctive milestones has been its reverse multichannel strategy: starting in digital to build brand and demand, and later expanding into pharmacies. Today, the company is present in more than 3,000 pharmacies, with a balanced sales mix across its own ecommerce, Amazon, and the pharmacy channel, and it already operates in Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Italy.

The conversation also highlighted the importance of a solid financial strategy, combining bank financing and venture capital, as well as a strong focus on profitability from the very beginning, a critical factor in sustaining growth. In 2024, Olistic surpassed €40 million in revenue, with more than 700,000 women having tried the product and over 100,000 active customers every month.

Pablo Nueno also shared a very personal reflection on the entrepreneurial journey: the importance of relying on other entrepreneurs and not being afraid to ask for help in a process that, while often solitary at first, becomes a constant path of accelerated learning when scaling a European brand.