From Suja’s IPO push to functional drinks getting stranger by the week, plus fresh funding, big retail moves, and the brands worth watching.
Hey DTC Fam,
Brands are raising serious money, valuations keep climbing, retail expansion is moving fast, and new launches keep getting more ridiculous wether you like it or not. Conor McGregor is launching a functional beverage brand. There is now officially a colostrum soda? Safe to say, things are getting weird.
Let’s get into it.
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Smearcase just closed our first institutional round of funding, led by Listen Ventures. The raise fuels the most aggressive retail expansion in our history: Sprouts nationwide (2 months in), Fresh Thyme this April, Fresh Market’s 180 stores launching in May, Whole Foods Northeast expansion. That puts us in over 1,000 retail doors across the country by Q2.
The bigger story: FroCo didn’t exist before we built it. Protein won, but most of the products still compromise on taste. We turned cottage cheese into ice cream-level indulgence with protein built in, not added on. Listen came in because they saw the same behavior shift we did - consumers refusing to choose between eating well and eating something they actually want.
Making a boring, productive product something exciting: that’s how Hears was born.
In the pulsating world of music, nothing makes a moment more special than intertwining melodies and beats. However, lurking in the background is the damage it can cause to our hearing. Bob Verlaat and Nick Nijhof co-founded Hears to strike that balance, creating sleek, comfortable earplugs that protect young concertgoers from hearing damage without ruining the natural sound of the music.
Bob and Nick were just highlighted by Forbes as picks for the 30 Under 30 Europe Retail & Ecommerce 2026 list for shaping the way we shop.
In a departure from our normal founder interviews, I sat down for an informal video session with Bob and Nick to talk through their journey and understand the story behind Hears. From having a sample fall apart in a demo to some advice for other brands, the transcript’s a great read.
Neutonic just raised $6M, the bigger story is how fast they got here.
Neutonic, founded in 2023 by Chris Williamson and James Smith, just raised $6M at a $60M valuation.
On pace for $25M+ in revenue this year, with 7.5M cans sold and projected 3x growth heading into 2026, this is one of the faster scaling functional beverage brands we’ve seen in a while.
The investor bench is notable too, with Codie Sanchez, Dan Martell, and Jay Parker all involved.
This is what modern brand building looks like when audience, product, and timing click. Founder-led distribution. Clear positioning. Functional benefits consumers understand instantly.
Suja is heading for the public markets, what does this mean for beverage?
Suja has officially set its IPO range at $21 to $24 per share, putting the company’s implied valuation between roughly $811M and $927M, with plans to raise around $200M in fresh capital.
That is a meaningful moment for consumer.
Public market windows have been tight, capital has been selective, and growth at all costs is no longer the playbook. For a brand like Suja to move toward a near billion dollar valuation signals there is still strong appetite for scaled, profitable consumer businesses with real category staying power.
The numbers are notable too. At an estimated $400M in annual revenue, the business is pricing at roughly 2.0x to 2.3x revenue, a healthy multiple in today’s market and one that gives founders, operators, and investors a real benchmark for where scaled beverage brands are being valued.
This is bigger than one IPO.
It is another reminder that strong brands still win, especially when product, distribution, and operational discipline all click. Consumer may be more competitive than ever, but the upside for brands that break through is still massive.
TIES just raised $1.5M to build in a category most brands have ignored.
TIES, an Austin-based men’s fertility and performance brand founded by Luke Novak and Camryn Novak, has raised a $1.5M seed round led by HumanCo.
The capital will fuel operations, R&D, and the launch of Foundations, a new supplement focused on hormone support and reproductive health.
The bigger signal here is category expansion.
For years, wellness has largely marketed fertility, hormone health, and preconception through a female lens. TIES is betting there is a large, underserved market on the men’s side, and that consumers are ready for more proactive, research-backed products in the space.
This is exactly where modern consumer is headed: sharper positioning, deeper education, and products built for highly specific needs rather than broad wellness claims.
Another $10M just poured into functional beverage, this time behind Wet Hydration.
Wet Hydration has raised $10M, adding Paul George as both an investor and brand partner, bringing total funding to $18M.
Founded in 2020 by Spencer Altschul, the brand is building around a simple thesis: hydration plus functionality. Clear protein waters, electrolyte drinks, and products designed to fit how consumers increasingly want to fuel throughout the day.
The company is now pushing deeper into retail, already landing in places like The Vitamin Shoppe and Walgreens, with convenience channel expansion next on deck. Bringing on Sean Lynch, who helped scale brands like Liquid Death, Red Bull, and Califia Farms, is another strong signal they are building for serious scale.
Functional beverage is no longer just about energy.
Protein, hydration, cognition, gut health, recovery, consumers now expect more from what they drink. The brands winning are making those benefits easier to understand, easier to consume, and easier to grab off shelf.
818 just got a major strategic backer, are celebrity brands growing up?
818 Tequila, founded by Kendall Jenner, has secured a minority investment from spirits giant Sazerac.
On the surface, it is a capital and distribution deal. Underneath, it is a sign of where celebrity-led brands are headed next.
818 has already proven there is real consumer demand, scaling from launch to an estimated $45M to $50M business, with continued growth projected this year. Plugging into Sazerac’s global infrastructure, alongside brands like Buffalo Trace, Fireball, and Svedka, gives the brand a much bigger runway for retail expansion and long-term staying power.
Celebrity can create attention, but infrastructure builds enduring brands.
The strongest celebrity brands are moving beyond hype cycles and into mature operating models, with strategic capital, world-class distribution, and partners that know how to scale.
ARMRA just launched the world’s first colostrum soda. Yes, really.
ARMRA has officially entered beverages with what it calls the first colostrum soda, a sparkling drink infused with grass-fed bovine colostrum, marketed as a source of 400+ bioactive nutrients.
Flavors include Spicy Lime, Huckleberry, Pear Ginger, and Pomelo Basil, with direct-to-consumer availability now live and retail rollout into Sprouts Farmers Market set for this summer.
At first glance, it sounds niche. Maybe even a little wild.
But that is exactly what makes it interesting.
Consumer appetite for functional products keeps expanding, and brands are pushing wellness ingredients into formats people already love.
What used to live in powders, capsules, and tinctures is now moving into cans, coolers, and everyday routines. The next era of beverage is not just hydration or caffeine. It is function packed into familiar formats.
Conor McGregor is back in beverage. This time, it’s functional.
MAC Energy, the latest venture from Conor McGregor, is entering the market with a formula built around energy, focus, and performance.
Each can packs 200mg of natural caffeine, 250mg of Cognizin, and 2g of active ketones, leaning directly into the growing consumer appetite for drinks that promise more than just a caffeine hit.
The flavors are bold too, Forbidden Green Apple, Proper Punch, and Orange Creamsicle among them, with launch set for July 12.
This is another signal that functional beverage is quickly becoming one of the most crowded and competitive categories in consumer.
Everyone wants in, from emerging startups to celebrity founders with built-in audiences and proven track records. McGregor already showed he knows how to build attention in beverage with Proper No. Twelve. Now he is applying that same playbook to a category with even more momentum.
House of Party just landed nationwide at Target, which means your everyday celebrations just got an upgrade.
House of Party, created by Petra Brands, has officially launched on endcaps nationwide at Target with its curated Party in a Box kits.
On paper, it is party supplies. In reality, it is productized convenience.
House of Party is taking a category that has traditionally felt fragmented, generic, and overly transactional, then packaging it into something easier, more elevated, and more giftable. Less aisle scavenger hunt, more grab-and-go experience.
Some of the best consumer opportunities are hiding in plain sight.
Not every winning brand needs to invent a new category. Sometimes the opportunity is simply making an old one better through branding, merchandising, and a sharper customer experience.
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That is Field Notes for Issue 008
Consumer is moving fast, money is flowing, weird is winning, and the brands bold enough to build differently are getting rewarded.
What brand are you watching right now?
Or better yet, what’s a brand we should be talking about that nobody is talking about yet?
Hit reply. We read every one.
— Zach + the 1800Hotline Team
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