• ☠️ Industry of Death: Water Brand Adds Another $67M
• 🎧 Steve Aoki, Simu Liu Join Sanzo Squad
• 🥩 DISCUS Recap: Beer Beef Keeps Burning

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If over $200.6 million raised to date and a treasure trove of human souls wasn’t enough, Liquid Death announced this morning it has closed a fresh $67 million investment round at a valuation of $1.4 billion – doubling the $700 million valuation it announced after its 2022 Series D round.

🚛 The new round includes institutional funding from first time partner SuRo Capital, a publicly traded investment fund, as well as existing investors Live Nation, Science, Inc., and Gray’s Creek Capital Partners. The round also adds a number of distributor investors, including the “No. 1 distributors in North Carolina, Oregon, Utah and Washington,” among others, further tightening the brand’s relationship with key DSD partners.

💸 The company said the funding will go towards new product innovation as well as scaling operations. In a press release, Liquid Death said it has received “higher than anticipated retailer demand” for its upcoming flavor launches, necessitating much more manufacturing.

🤝 So where’s this all heading? Last summer, the company teased that it was considering an IPO and reportedly hired Goldman Sachs to help lead the process and had been quiet since. Co-founder and CEO Mike Cessario told Bloomberg that the company wants “optionality” in whether it goes through with an IPO or finds a buyer.

We’re reaching out for more details, so stay tuned.

After opening a new investment round in January that has already raised $5 million, Sanzo is adding some star power to its cap table, announcing this morning that producer/DJ Steve Aoki and actor Simu Liu are joining the sparkling water brand as investors.

📈 As its sales and distribution have picked up momentum in recent years, the Asian-inspired sparkling water brand has found traction through partnerships with celebrities and films relevant to Asian-American communities, including with Disney-owned Marvel Studios for 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, starring Liu in the title role.

🤝🏼 Both Aoki and Liu have “been friends of Sanzo since our early days, aligning personally with our mission,” said Sanzo founder and CEO Sandro Roco in a press release.

Aoki brings years of CPG investment experience through his backing of brands like Daring Foods, Athletic Greens and Liquid I.V., while Liu said he invested in Sanzo because “I’m extremely passionate about uplifting AAPI entrepreneurs with a solid vision for their business.” 

Read the full story on BevNET

Last week members of the spirits industry gathered for the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS) conference in San Diego, and we got the highlights for you:

🍺 The organization is not holding back as it fights for RTD access and lower taxes state-by-state. With the message “don’t buy big beer’s blather” (a bit of a tongue-twister) the beer industry’s opposition is being labeled as not focused on the consumer, according to DISCUS president and CEO Chris Swonger.

✍️ But the bigger public information campaign heating up is contrasting anti-alcohol sentiment DISCUS leadership says could influence the Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) dietary guidelines to be announced in 2025. We tried to separate fact from fiction in that chatter, but we expect to see a more vocal campaign against studies or media reports that indicate there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.

🔢 TTB label regulations may soon require nutritional, allergen and ingredient information, which causes concern about creating any “undue burdens” on the industry, particularly small craft distillers, according to the organization. That process will be slow moving however.

❎ Panelists also discussed how moderation trends and inventory build-ups have shaken up the shelves, mostly good news for non-alc, bad news for new entrants.

Read the full story on BevNET

Mananalu, the aluminum-bottled water brand, is launching 22 oz. flavored still water in Lilikoi Passion and Tahitian Lime. Mananalu is eliminating single-use plastic via their “Drink One, Remove One” initiative, removing one water bottle’s worth of plastic from the ocean for every bottle purchased. Learn more