Fueled by a recent $5 million infusion of Series A funding led by L Catterton, WTHN is eager to access a slice of the booming health and wellness market, which is expected to climb to a staggering $1.3 trillion by 2025. By firing on multiple cylinders, this thoroughly modern company rooted in ancient health rituals is essentially mainstreaming Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

“TCM is in the DNA of who we are and what we do and will always be our North Star inspiring the services and products we offer and create,” says Michelle Larivee, WTHN’S CEO and co-founder. “A large part of our mission is educating the market on the wide variety of benefits that TCM has. And in addition to that, we aim to share whenever possible the history, philosophy, and culture of TCM as well. This is important for our clients but also our team of experts who have devoted their lives and careers to studying and learning this beautiful and complex medicine.”

From a stunning new studio in Williamsburg to ear-seed collaborations with Poosh, Goop, and breakout-star products like its face cupping kit and 5x-sellout acupressure mat, the four-and-a-half-year-old brand is riding a wave of momentum it fully expects to take into its immediate future.

“The Series A funding will be instrumental to scaling our brick-and- mortar footprint across New York, as well as our product distribution with top tier retailers as we achieve our goal of bringing holistic, natural, and alternative wellness solutions into the mainstream,” Larivee notes.

Along with the clean-leaning Poosh and Goop, WTHN has also partnered with Grove Collaborative and recently added the cult-fave, certified-organic retailer Erewhon. “We were thrilled to announce our partnership with Erewhon,” says Larivee. “Our mission has always been to make our products as accessible as possible, and we’re excited to continue growing our retail distribution with our sights set on mass retailer expansion this year.”

There’s also a destination and day spa presence in the WTHN retail mix. “We have spa distribution through a number of hotels including select Auberge properties and Nemacolin, among others,” Larivee shares. “These partnerships are successful as travel and wellness converges, and customers are increasingly seeking natural beauty and wellness options. We’ve also partnered with other brands like Ever/body and Heyday to incorporate our products and services into their beauty treatments. This further speaks to the broad demand for holistic wellness.”

But it’s in its own studios, in the Flatiron section of Manhattan and now Brooklyn, that WTHN hones its raison d’être of expanding the awareness of the fundamentals of TCM, especially its needle-based signature modality.

According to Larivee, WTHN has given more than 30,000 individuals their first-ever acupuncture treatment and offers both à la carte sessions starting at $85 for inaugural visits and memberships that start at $90 per month. If members opt for the highest-tier, $175 Acu+Herbs package, they’ll receive two monthly acupuncture sessions along with an herbal subscription and free cupping and ear-seed add-ons.

As a basis of comparison, and a nod to the accessibility WTHN strives for, Larivee says the average price for acupuncture in New York City is $150+.

The beauty part? The sessions take place in WTHN’s altogether luxe environments, featuring heated tables, a sound bath, aromatherapy, and a cup of herbal tea at the ready on completion of your service.

“We’ve focused on creating a very luxurious experience that engages all five senses and uses hospitality to make our clients feel welcome,” says Larivee. “Moreover, the fact that TCM is a multimodal approach incorporating acupuncture, herbs, cupping, ear-seeding, nutrition, and more is a fundamental pillar of why we’re building an omnichannel business that enables our clients to get the best possible health and wellness results by combining the many healing tools we offer."

By introducing customers to TCM, Larivee says WTHN is helping them unlock not only functional benefits like less stress and anxiety, better sleep, and improved digestion but is also potentially addressing gaps left open by standard American healthcare options. And by really listening to those customers, WTHN is gathering intel that informs every aspect of its business. As Larivee puts it, “We strive to know our customers deeply.”

That knowledge is funneled directly back into WTHN’s ever-expanding product range, along with its expansion of studio services. “Many of our product launches and expansions are based on feedback from our team of expert acupuncturists and members at WTHN,” says Larivee. “We involve our members through the entire process including serving as product testers for new launches in development. We consider their feedback very seriously and utilize it in our processes to make sure we’re making products that serve a need and offer powerful solutions.”

Larivee is forecasting 3x growth for WTHN this year, which she expects to be achieved through the opening of two additional studios and a continued push into wholesale and e-commerce expansion. New products on the horizon, she says, will center on digestion and pain.

As far as Larivee is concerned, WTHN is the market leader in bringing every aspect of this ancient Asian healing modality into the modern world. “WTHN is the only brand taking a truly integrated and omnichannel approach to making TCM accessible, with a unique focus on hospitality and an elevated experience,” she says. “At accessible pricing and a full line of high-quality organic herbs, acupressure, and other tools, we’re able to enable our customers to create a complete TCM-based lifestyle all in one place.”