Startups Eye a Gold Rush in Electrolytes

“I haven’t been hung over in seven years,” said Jahaan Ansari, the bearded, muscled co-founder of Gainful, a New York–based startup.

Ansari may be in that fortunate position partly because he has yet to hit his 30s—he’s just 29—but he also credits what Gainful sells: powdered electrolytes. Electrolytes such as calcium, sodium and potassium combine with water to help the body manage the electric charges between nerves, cells and muscles. Dehydration, caused by exercise or other activities (like, say, a three-espresso-martini lunch), pushes those electrolytes out of the body through urination. Consume an electrolyte drink, and the recovery from that dehydration speeds up.

Ansari’s Gainful purveys its powdered electrolytes in spiffy black packets that come in three flavors: strawberry lemonade, tropical mango and lemon lime. (Gainful offers them with 150 milligrams of caffeine or without caffeine.) They’re sold through Gainful’s website as one-off purchases or through a monthly $30 subscription, which also includes nutrition coaching with a registered dietitian and a free month with a personal trainer over video chat.