A Tampa-based company innovating water bottles has closed a $30 million funding round, nearly quintupling its previous funding raise.
Cirkul, which raised $6.6 million in November 2020, has seen massive growth since its previous funding. The company has continued to go viral on social media app TikTok and hired 100 additional employees from March to June.
"As a profitable business, we didn’t have a need for outside capital, but we took advantage of a great opportunity to add some terrific investors and strategic partners to our cap table," CEO Garrett Waggoner said in an email to the Business Journal.
The latest funding was led by New York-based AF Ventures, which previously participated in Cirkul's Series A round. Fellow existing investor Siddhi Capital also participated in the Series B, along with SC.Holdings and several angel investors and family office investors.
“More importantly, we are proud to partner with a management team that had the foresight to bring an offering to market that has helped millions of consumers transition away from sugar-laden beverages in exchange for water through an experiential format," Jordan Gaspar, managing partner of AF Ventures, said in a statement.
The company, which has a patented system of water bottles and cartridges to swap out 43 different flavors, was founded in 2018 in Tampa Bay, with a satellite office in Boston. Waggoner said the company does not have immediate plans to raise a Series C round, but will "assess new opportunities as they arise."
He has had long-term plans of expanding to retail stores, which is closer in reach with the latest funding infusion.
"One great thing about having the new capital is it gives us additional capacity to make a big splash when we launch in retail," Waggoner said. "We have developed several very exciting partnerships that we’ll be able to tell you about soon."
Waggoner added he expects to hire "hundreds" more by the end of the year, across all departments.
"Between the customer desire for more water, less sugar and plastic, and the incredible opportunity in e-commerce that our technology unlocks, we’re riding some massive trends and are very grateful to our customers for trusting us to provide the solution they’re looking for," he said.
The company was one of Tampa Bay Inno's 21 startups to watch in 2021.
