Culture Pop lands $15m
The ‘modern soda’ brand closes fresh funding to scale marketing & distribution efforts across the US.
“If Soda Grew on Trees” - one of the best taglines in the game.
Deal Background
The $15m deal was led by Enlightened Hospitality Group (EHI) and brings total brand funding to +$40m since founding in 2020.
$12m is still available in the round with all signs pointing towards that allocation filling shortly.
Culture Pop’s funding roadmap thus far:
May 2020 - $215k (seed 1.0)
Sep 2020 - $1.1m (debt)
May 2021 - $3.5m (seed 2.0)
Feb 2024 - $21m (growth)
Other brand investors include Howard Schultz and TF Ventures, the investment firm led by Tom First — the definition of smart money.
Culture Pop’s Goal?
Bring “soda that’s actually good for you” to the masses.
And if they can pull it off, CP might just be looking at a multi-billion $ outcome…
Why Culture Pop is Fundable
1 / The Modern Soda Market
The latest billion $ product category, modern soda is home to Poppi & Olipop as well as many other startups looking to earn a slice of the $41b (US) soda market.
A look at how retail sales of modern soda have grown over the past four years (per Numerator):
2021 - $71m
2022 - $161m
2023 - $486m
2024 - $1b
It’s a safe bet to say the growth here is just getting started as modern soda makes up roughly 2% of total CSD volume.
Could this grow to 5, 10, or even 20% in the coming years? It’s not out of the question.
2 / Product Quality and Positioning
Culture Pop sits in a valuable strategic position vs. modern soda from a product standpoint.
The brand uses organic fruit juice, spices, and live probiotics to power it’s beverages.
No high intensity sweeteners or ‘natural flavors’ whatsoever.
Conversely, most major competitors in the space rely heavily on flavor extracts, stevia, and natural flavors to simulate fruit taste rather than using real fruit.
This difference allows Culture Pop to boast the cleanest label in the category, a critical advantage in landing lucrative, health-conscious consumers.
3 / Leadership Excellence
Tom First (founder, CEO) is a legend in the beverage industry best known as co-founder of Nantucket Nectars, a juice brand launched in the 1980s that was eventually acquired by Cadbury in 2002.
Since that sale, Tom has remained active in the food / bev space as an investor and advisor with First Beverage Ventures, Castanea Partners, and TF Ventures.
Culture Pop is his latest entrepreneurial ventures and he’s assembled an all-star team of operators including Ben Tuttman, Andrew Merle, and Brendan Burns to build the future of the brand.
