Celebrities are backing plant-based brands now more than ever. Koia, the leaders in plant-based, low sugar beverages, just announced new investments from The Weeknd, Kevin Hart, Kyler Murray, Cordae, Chris Paul, Khris Middleton, Pink Sweats, NLE Choppa, and more, fueling this trend. This diverse group of culture leaders invested in Koia for their love for the brand, its products, and belief in its mission of making plant-based foods more accessible, delicious, and convenient for everyone.
Koia, the fast-growing, 100% plant-based nutrition beverage brand, today announced a growing list of A-List investors across music, sports, and entertainment industries who will help propel Koia’s disruption of the $66B plant-based beverages industry. Joining Koia in its effort to make plant-based eating more accessible, delicious, and convenient, investors include culture icons, The Weeknd and Kevin Hart and his trainer Ron “Boss” Everline (on behalf of Hart Beat Ventures), world class athletes, Kyler Murray (NFL Quarterback), Ryan O’Reilly (NHL Hockey Player), Josh Bell (MLB Baseball Player),and a new age of health-aware, young artists and executives including Cordae (Music Artist), Internet Money (Music Producer), and Pink Sweats (Music Artist),some of whom are making their first private market investments. Other investors include a variety of music executives, MLB and NBA players and music artists.
These cultural leaders coming together to invest in Koia and its mission and is a testament to the brand’s broad appeal culturally relevant mission of creating better access to nutritious, plant-based foods and beverages for all. Others contributing to this funding round include Karpreilly, AF Ventures (Accel Foods), Monogram Capital, and CircleUp.
“After working closely with Koia for the past several months, I can see how committed they are to building a successful business and helping people lead healthier lives,” says NBA-superstarChris Paul, who initially invested in Koia in 2021 and partnered to help fuel accessibility of plant-based, low sugar options to underserved communities, starting with the introduction of a Vending Machine Program servicing Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and a donation of 50,000 Koia bottles to GoPuff customers nationally. “With this new round of investors and friends joining the Koia Krew, we have even more potential to create opportunity and access for underserved communities.”
“Koia is a dope, healthy plant-based drink that just so happens to taste incredible,” adds GRAMMY®-nominated and acclaimed rap artist Cordae. “I love the product and use it on a daily basis, so the opportunity to become an early investor was a no brainer.”
This funding marks a significant milestone in Koia’s journey as the brand celebrates a record-setting year of nearly $60M in retail sales with 35M bottles sold, rounding out 100% YOY growth and a 400% increase in sales within the past three years. Today, Koia is sold in 17,000 stores across the U.S. ranging from Whole Foods to Target, Walmart, Gopuff and 7-Eleven. The brand is currently performing as the top 4 fastest-growing refrigerated beverages on Instacart while also experiencing accelerated growth at key outlets such as Ralphs and 7-Eleven. Koia is now well on its way to becoming the next billion-dollar beverage brand breaking new ground in the healthy beverage category.
Koia is led by the strong stewardship of serial beverage industry entrepreneur and CEO, Chris Hunter, who formally created Four Loko and Not Your Father’s Rootbeer, both successful alcoholic beverage brands. He shifted away from alcohol to the healthy products industry fueled by his own passions of leading a healthy lifestyle and offering it to others.
“As we continue to build this company and break ground in the beverage industry, we are thrilled for this incredibly talented and diverse group of investors to be part of our Koia family,” says Chris Hunter, Co-Founder & CEO of Koia. “Their voices and perspectives are meaningful in the conversation around health and nutrition, and they share our collective passion for creating better access to health. Their support is a testament to the power of the better-for-you product and plant-based movement.”
This partnership and new capital will help support product innovation and retail expansion supporting Koia’s vision of making plant-based, low sugar options available to everyone.
For more information visit drinkkoia.com and follow @drinkkoia on social media:
About Koia
Koia = truly delicious, healthy, convenient, low-sugar/low net carbs, plant-based beverages that come ready-to-drink with no mixing or stirring required. Koia uses only high-quality ingredients to deliver a balance of complete plant protein, fiber, and healthy fats for sustained satiation and energy at any time of the day. All Koia flavors are 100-percent plant-based, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free, vegan, and Non-GMO Project verified. Koia offers three lines of beverages to cater to nearly everybody’s nutritional needs: Koia Protein, Koia Keto, and Koia Smoothie. For more information, visit drinkkoia.com and follow Koia on Instagram and Facebook.
