D’Amore-McKim Student’s Hylux Sport Drinks Goes Toe-To-Toe With Gatorade
Northeastern’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business recently published an article written by Jason Korwitz about a brilliant and seemingly oxymoronic concoction by fourth-year business major Lamar Letts ‘17—Hylux sports drink, a healthy alternative to Gatorade.
In high school, Letts maintained abysmal eating habits—“late-night junk food binges were common”—but it seemed to have little effect on his accomplishments as a track star. This changed abruptly during his senior year when Letts was diagnosed with myocarditis, “an inflammation of the heart muscle,” which left him bed-ridden for months on end.
When Letts returned to a regular fitness regiment, he was surprised to discover that his sweet tooth had all but disappeared. “I immediately realized that I didn’t need or want the extra sugar that was in the food I was eating. I started to dilute traditional sports drinks with water.”
The process of regularly diluting traditional sports drinks during workouts triggered an “ah-ha” moment. Letts quickly recruited a food scientist and a U.S. manufacturer to develop Hylux Sport, an all-natural, healthy alternative to the sugary sports drinks on the market. Hylux contains “less sugar than Gatorade, more electrolytes than VitaminWater, and more potassium than a banana.”
IDEA, Northeastern’s “student-run venture accelerator,” awarded Letts $10,000 in gap funding, which he says has been instrumental in getting Hylux up and running. “IDEA has enabled me to get insight from people in the field while learning a lot about running a business.”
Hylux currently comes in four flavors—berry mix, strawberry kiwi, lemon lime, and unflavored. Athletes can find Hylux in stock at Boston’s UFC Gym, Republic Fitness, and Velo-City, as well as Northeastern’s on-campus supermarket, Wollaston’s. 3% of Hylux proceeds “go toward providing clean water in developing countries via actor Matt Damon’s Water.org nonprofit”—an issue Letts cares deeply about.
Down the line, Letts wants to see superstar athletes chugging Hylux after game-winning plays. “My dream is to bring Hylux to an even bigger audience. I need upfront capital for a large production run that will help us meet demand and introduce Hylux to more people.”
Take a gander at Letts’ Kickstarter campaign, which is seeking $10,000 to “redesign Hylux’s bottles and labels.”
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
