{"id":13250,"date":"2026-02-05T15:51:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T07:51:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/?p=13250"},"modified":"2026-02-05T16:22:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T08:22:18","slug":"gut-punch-the-tech-professionals-fixing-modern-digestion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/2026\/02\/05\/gut-punch-the-tech-professionals-fixing-modern-digestion\/","title":{"rendered":"Gut Punch: The Tech Professionals Fixing Modern Digestion"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Working in a high-pressure tech company where she had to meet demanding sales quotas every month, Ms Anna Tantushyan (Business MIM \u201917) realised that the cost of success was literally making her sick to the stomach.<\/p>

\u201cI was skipping lunch, grabbing whatever was fast and easy, and jumping from one meeting to the next,\u201d said Ms Tantushyan, who started working for the company in 2022.<\/p>

\u201cAs a result, I gradually started having brain fog and digestion issues. When my annual health report came back with very high inflammation markers, I realised I wasn’t just tired. I was breaking down.\u201d<\/p>

She wasn’t alone. Her husband Mr Evan Tan, who worked at a tech unicorn company, would also feel bloated and tired. They realised that their friends working in the tech space had similar issues from their high-stress jobs: They just did not have the time or mind space to eat properly, relying on ultra-processed convenience foods or thoughtless takeaways.<\/p>

The couple decided to trade in their high-flying tech careers. Mr Tan quit his job at the end of 2024 and Ms Tantushyan in early 2025 to build a startup called Wellsprout<\/a>, selling products that could heal digestive systems to boost overall wellness.<\/p>

YOU FEEL IT IN YOUR GUT<\/strong><\/p>

In their deep dive to try and find a solution, they discovered that gut health was critical to wellbeing. Research shows that people living in modern cities like Singapore have significantly lower gut microbiome diversity\u2014important for a healthy gut\u2014compared to those living in less industrialised areas.<\/p>

\u201cThe modern diet, which is heavy on emulsifiers, artificial flavourings and ultra-processed ingredients, is damaging our gut microbiome, which impacts a wide range of gut-axes in our bodies,\u201d Mr Tan said, referring to the gut-lung axis, the gut-skin axis and the gut-brain axis (the network of nerves that connect the gut and the brain).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Source: Microbiota medicine: towards clinical revolution (2022) <\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\u201cThe gut is our \u2018second brain\u2019. If it\u2019s inflamed, your mental health and energy levels suffer. We wanted to apply our tech-driven problem-solving skills to this holistic health challenge.\u201d<\/p>

The priority was seeking natural ingredients that were scientifically proven to nourish the body. They assembled a team of scientists to work on R&D. But when it came to the bricks and mortar of building a production facility, the two looked toward Armenia, where they spent most of 2025.<\/p>

FINDING FERTILE GROUND IN ARMENIA<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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By growing ingredients like wheatgrass and barley grass in its own facility, Wellsprout delivers transparency and accountability.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Besides being Ms Tantushyan\u2019s home country, Armenia is a land-rich country where operational costs are lower. It is also renowned for rich, volcanic soil that nurtures high-quality agricultural products.<\/p>

The couple sought out local farmers to supply plants and vegetables, and contractors to build the facility from the ground up. Ironically, it was Ms Tantushyan who had a sharp dose of reverse culture shock.<\/p>

Having spent 10 years in Singapore, she was used to efficiency. \u201cIn Singapore, I could change a company address in five minutes. In Armenia, it took three months of visiting government buildings and getting different forms each time to fill in.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Despite the bureaucratic hurdles and the \u201ccoffee-break culture\u201d of local contractors, they successfully built a specialised hydroponic facility that comprises a \u201cgrowing\u201d section where the plants are sprouting, and a \u201cprocessing\u201d section where workers harvest and process the plants into powder.<\/p>

By growing key ingredients like wheatgrass and barley grass, Wellsprout ensures total accountability and transparency, which is rare in the supplements industry. \u201cWe wanted to make sure we were growing our key ingredients ourselves, in our own facility, to be comfortable putting into our own bodies,\u201d said Ms Tantushyan.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A 27-PLANT FORMULATION<\/strong><\/p>

The result of their R&D is a 100 percent plant-based green powder featuring 27 different ingredients, ranging from stinging nettles for iron to chamomile for calmness. The formulation process itself was a journey of trial and error.<\/p>

\u201cThe initial versions were quite bitter,\u201d Ms Tantushyan recalled, \u201cand because the plants are so high in fibre, it was hard for it to mix with water.\u201d They eventually found a natural solution: psyllium husk, which acts as a natural binding agent without the need for synthetic emulsifiers. Today, a Wellsprout drink tastes grassy and slightly minty.<\/p>

Today, the 10-man Wellsprout team comprises scientists, farmers and workers in Armenia and Singapore.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ms Tantushyan<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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VOTED MOST LIKELY TO START A BUSINESS<\/strong><\/p>

For Ms Tantushyan, the seeds of entrepreneurship were sown during her time at NUS, where she did her Master of Science in Management. Coming to Singapore in 2015 was the first time she left Armenia.<\/p>

\u201cMy classmates actually voted me \u2018Most Likely to Start a Business\u2019,\u201d she said. \u201cNUS was life-changing. It wasn’t just the research-focused education, it was the environment at BLOCK71 and NUS Enterprise. Organising a hackathon in 2017 for 150 students made me see how it was possible to experiment with building something from nothing.\u201d<\/p>

That experimentation has paid off. Since launching in October 2025, Wellsprout has seen a surge in direct-to-consumer sales, through their website and social media posts. Customers report improved digestion, better bowel regularity and sustained energy that replaces the need for cup after cup of coffee in the workday.<\/p>

The couple are focusing on sales and generating awareness this year. But as they look toward the next five years, the plan is to move beyond nutrition. They envision integrating wearable tech and data-driven research to provide a holistic picture of wellness, which is where their tech skills will be useful.<\/p>

\u201cWe want to publish formal research on how our products affect the gut microbiome,\u201d said Mr Tan. \u201cIt\u2019s about going back to a core, timeless issue: how we take care of ourselves in a world that never stops moving.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Wellsprout is an AlumPERKS merchant<\/a>. Use discount code ALUM10<\/strong> on their website<\/a> to get 10% off Wellsprout Superblend Powder. Offer available from 1 Feb -31 Dec 2026.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ms Anna Tantushyan (Business MIM \u201917) and her husband Mr Evan Tan traded their high-stress tech careers to launch wellness startup Wellsprout, developing a daily drink designed to heal the modern gut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":13251,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_theme","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-startups"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13250"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13269,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13250\/revisions\/13269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.nus.edu.sg\/thealumnus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}