Online group The Hut has raised £4m in equity from existing shareholders to help launch new site MyVitamins.com in August.

The new brand will form part of The Hut Group’s lifestyle division which also includes MyProtein.com which experienced sales growth of 87% in the first quarter of 2012.

The Hut Group has been diversifying its sales and customer mix to deliver higher margin sales growth and the launch of MyVitamins.com continues the strategy.

Chairman of the group Angus Monro said the launch was a major opportunity for the retailer.

He said: “The business currently sells a significant volume of vitamins as part of the MyProtein offering and the team thoroughly understands the sector and the size of the opportunity. The category fits perfectly with the group’s focus on repeat purchase products and enables the group to reach a broader customer demographic.”