SAN CLEMENTE, Calif., U.S. – KonaRed Corporation announced the closing of a significant capital raise with Venice Brands, an emerging consumer brands platform located in Los Angeles that focuses on building future category leaders in the food & beverage space.
The company recently entered into a strategic multi-year equity deal with Venice Brands.
The deal includes keeping the management team and board of directors intact, while adding working capital, industry connections, and strategic leadership to the Company.
Kyle Redfield, the Chief Executive Officer of KonaRed, commented “this deal with Venice Brands gives us the capital necessary to further invest in and expand our presence in the RTD coffee and beverage industries.
We have worked extremely hard to create value for our company, brand and shareholders over the past couple of years and are proud to be in a position to continue to grow through our new partnership with Venice Brands.”
The company will use this latest round of funding to invest in working capital, sales & marketing efforts, building out its team, and new product development initiatives. “Our line of award-winning RTD cold brew coffees has taken off tremendously over the past year.
We continue to win shelf space at well-known retailers around the country who want to sell our products and ask us to launch new sizes and flavor profiles,” notes Redfield. The data supports this.
According to recent IRI data, KonaRed’s cold brew coffees are growing almost 3,000% year-over-year in the grocery channel and outperforming many of its competitors in key velocity metrics.
“We believe that our premium RTD cold brew coffees, which use real Kona Coffee from Hawaii along with nutrient-rich Hawaiian Coffee Fruit, resonate incredibly well with consumers. The product tastes amazing and also delivers on the caffeine, low sugar, low carb, and zero fat that consumers are looking for,” says Redfield.
KonaRed is Venice Brands’ second investment since the platform’s launch in early 2017. Greg Willsey, the Founder & CEO of Venice Brands, worked with Redfield at POM Wonderful where Willsey developed and executed a sizable turnaround of the well-known brand.
“We are incredibly excited to partner with KonaRed, Kyle and his team. The company’s brand and product lines are exactly what we look for at Venice Brands: incredibly strong growth, high-quality ingredients with a great story, compelling sales velocities, experienced management, and the ability to become a true leader not only in cold brew coffee but in the broader premium beverage category.
I have worked closely with Kyle and other members of the KonaRed team while at POM, and we see huge opportunities to leverage our complementary talents,” notes Willsey. “I am excited to work with Kyle and his team to build KonaRed into something truly special over the coming years.”
KonaRed’s products are available nationwide at fine retailers including Kroger, Safeway, Whole Foods, Target, Costco, Sam’s Clubs, Vons, Albertson’s, Pavilions, SuperValu, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Smiths, Vitamin Shoppe, Kwik Trip, 7-Eleven and many other retail outlets.
