Posted by Elina Ivanova-Atanassov
on October 15, 2026
By Elina Ivanova-Atanassov, founder of Smart Strips · Last updated: 2026-10
Smart Strips founder and CEO Elina Ivanova-Atanassov used Health & Beauty Expo 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria, to set out the idea the brand is building a new supplement category on: today, the format matters more than the ingredient. Smart Strips exhibited its full range of 10 formulas at tENTA from 2 to 4 October, and her talk, "Smart Strips: the future of supplements", was part of the official programme on 2 October. Due to high demand, Ivanova-Atanassov returned to the stage on 3 October.
"Wellness is now a 6.8 trillion dollar market, almost four times the size of pharma," Ivanova-Atanassov said, pointing to people who increasingly invest in prevention instead of waiting until they need treatment. "I have built brands, products and services, but the real skill is creating a category."
In her view, the industry's blind spot is the route supplements take into the body. Formulas have improved for decades, yet pills, capsules, powders and shots still pass through the stomach, the gut and the liver, where part of the dose is lost. She cited a controlled study in which the average bioavailability of melatonin taken as a tablet was just 2.5%. "So we decided to keep the ingredients and change the route."
The Smart Strips oral dissolvable strip goes on the tongue, dissolves in 7 to 30 seconds with no water and is absorbed through the lining of the mouth, with up to 95% bioavailability, up to 4x faster absorption and up to 30% greater effectiveness compared with tablets, capsules and powders. The strips are made in a GMP certified facility in the USA with QuickRelease technology. "Our mission is for the whole industry to start measuring itself by the dose that is absorbed, not the dose printed on the label."
From Los Angeles and Cologne to Sofia
Sofia follows a year in which Smart Strips stepped onto the international stage. The brand was presented to the biohacking community in Los Angeles and at FIBO in Cologne, the world's largest fitness and supplement trade show, where many visitors to the stand have since become distributors of the brand around the world. Smart Strips has been featured by Athletech News and Biohack Yourself in the US, and by Forbes.
The 10 formulas cover different moments of the day, from sleep (Z-z-Zen) and tension (ANXIETY) to training (FCKN FIT) and beauty from within (BEAUTÉ), and ten more are in development. "We look for a moment when people need something, and we turn it into a strip," Ivanova-Atanassov said.
At stand B-22, easy to spot from across the hall thanks to the bright red tongue, visitors got a close look at the full range and met the Smart Strips team.
"Convenience is the reason to try oral strips. Absorption is the reason to make them your ritual," says Ivanova-Atanassov.
All 10 formulas are on our website, and we show what's new first on Instagram at @smart.strips.