As good as Elina Svitolina can be on the tennis court, the No. 7-ranked women’s player in the world isn’t immune to a fairly common issue that every athlete has dealt with at one point or another.
“We’re playing in hot conditions; your palms are sweating and sometimes the sweat is coming from your arms down to your grip.” Svitolina said in an interview. “When you play a forehand-backhand volley, it’s all different grips and you need to really be efficient with a quick turn of your racket.”
But last year, she was introduced to a hand grip gel from French startup company Tiva, and Svitolina has found her solution. Now, after integrating the product across her entire regimen, from practices to matches, she is taking her relationship with the brand a step further. The 31-year-old, who will be playing fellow Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the quarterfinals at the French Open, has joined Tiva as an ambassador and an investor.
“For me, right now I’m in the late stages of my career, so it’s important to find some projects that that I actually believe in,” Svitolina said.
Svitolina is part of a pre-seed funding round that saw Tiva raise more than $600,000 (€525,000) at a roughly $4 million (€3.5 million) post-money valuation, with Portugal-based investment firm Apex leading the way. In doing so, the brand is hoping to carve out its own piece of the $100 billion-plus European cosmetics market by delivering products geared toward improving athletic performance as opposed to makeup and other beauty items.
