Cure founder and CEO Lauren Picasso. Image Credits:<\/strong> Cure<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To differentiate itself more from the plethora of hydration options, Cure went through a rebrand in 2022 to focus more on its ingredients. For example, it uses coconut water powder and pink Himalayan salt, while other drink mix companies use cane sugar, dextrose, high-fructose corn syrup and synthetic and artificial ingredients, Picasso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to rebrand and really better communicate our clean, plant-based ingredients,\u201d Picasso added. \u201cWe feel that we\u2019re just as effective as products like Liquid I.V., but we are using much better ingredients. There\u2019s a really clear point of differentiation, and because of that, we end up attracting very different consumers than any of our competitors. Our product tends to skew female, which is pretty unique, and tends to be a very active health conscious consumer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since launching in 2019, Cure has grown, on average, 230% each year in revenue, and will expand its retail footprint from 4,000 stores in 2021 to 15,000 in 2023, Picasso said.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s products are already in CVS and Walgreens, but now will also be in retailers, including Sprouts, Albertsons, Kroger, Stop & Shop, Wegmans and HEB. Overall, there are nine flavors, four of them new: lime and orange launched in 2022 and lemonade and strawberry kiwi this year.<\/p>\n

While Cure is accelerating its retail presence, it continues to have about 60% penetration in e-commerce, and in the first quarter of 2023 outpaced its prior year\u2019s quarter growth by 121%, and all with just nine full-time employees, Picasso said.<\/p>\n

Having already secured $2.6 million in seed funding in 2020, Cure\u2019s $5.6 million Series A funding, which closed in March, gives the company $8.2 million in total venture-backed capital. With the new capital, the company, Picasso said Cure\u2019s valuation is now over 2x higher than the previous round.<\/p>\n

The Series A was planned, with Picasso noting that \u201cthis is going to be our last round. From here on out, we will be working toward profitability, aiming to be profitable by the beginning of 2024.\u201d<\/p>\n