Poppi, a prebiotic soda maker that last year moved to Austin from Dallas, announced Dec. 13 it had raised $25 million in a financing round led by CAVU Consumer Partners.
The consumer packaged goods company said it now has its products — which come in flavors such as cherry limeade and ginger lime that are meant to improve gut health — in more than 20,000 locations nationwide, and that revenue has grown 148% in the past year, although no hard numbers were disclosed.
Poppi, legally known as VNGR Beverage LLC, is led by husband and wife co-founders Stephen Ellsworth and Allison Ellsworth. The new funding followed a $13.5 million round last year.
The new money is being used to augment the Poppi executive team. The company pointed out it recently hired Chief Marketing Officer Lana Buchanan, previously a vice president at Anheuser-Busch, and in May added Chris Hall as CEO.
Funding will also go to marketing, product development and expanding its retail distribution, with the goal of being in 30,000 stores by the end of 2023.
Previously known as Mother Beverage, Poppi landed a $400,000 deal on "Shark Tank" in 2018. Other investors have included the band Chainsmokers, Russell Westbrook, Ellie Goulding and Nicole Scherzinger.
CAVU Consumer Partners is a new name for CAVU Venture Partners, the investment firm founded in 2015 by Brett Thomas and CPG veteran Rohan Oza. For a time, Austin's Clayton Christopher was also a CAVU managing partner, although he stepped away from that role around spring 2019. CAVU's website lists offices in Los Angeles and New York City.
