Beverage giant Coca-Cola has reportedly hit the headlines for acquiring a minority stake in Iris Nova, the company that owns functional beverage brand Dirty Lemon, resulting in a $15 million round.
As per trusted sources, Coca-Cola is presently Dirty Lemon’s largest investor. Reportedly, the beverage company that launched in 2015 has formed an enthusiastic social media following for its range of premium functional drinks that feature on-trend ingredients like collagen, turmeric, and cannabidiol for a temporary time earlier in 2018.
Besides its products priced at $65 per 6-pack, the brand garnered attention with its innovative text-based ordering system, a concept that was further developed with the launch of The Drug Store, a cashier-less store based in New-York, where products are dispensed through a tech-enabled honor system that allows customers to text the items taken from store coolers, cite sources.
Zak Normandin, CEO of Iris Nova stated that teaming-up with Coca-Cola would give the company the resources it needs to be able to execute faster and more efficiently as it charts its course for more than $100 million revenue by 2021.
The investment was initiated through Coca-Cola North America’s Venturing and Emerging Brands business unit, which is committed to identifying and supporting beverage companies with billion-dollar potential, claim sources.
Iris Nova is looking forward to a busy 2019, as the company is set to launch two new brands namely Tres Limon, a non-alcoholic aperitif in the first quarter and another non-alcoholic beverage to follow in the third quarter. Tres Limon will be available in glass bottles and initially target hospitality channels to acquire new customers, who can then use the text-to-pay ordering system to purchase a canned version of the product that will be shipped directly, stated sources familiar with the development.
Furthermore, Dirty Lemon’s product portfolio will witness rapid expansion with the launch of a new SKU every month starting from 2019. Along with its own brands, Iris Nova has assigned an amount of $1 million for investments in other beverage brands in the coming year, reported sources.
