Vita Coco
Verlinvest has helped transform Vita Coco from a pioneer in packaged coconut water in New York into a leading health and wellness consumer brand now available across the world.
- Region
- Global,
North America - Sectors
- Food, beverage & FMCG
- Website
- vitacoco.com
- Investment
- 2007 - Active
- Verlinvest contact
- Eric Melloul, Clément Pointillart
About
The journey
In 2005, during a casual outing to a New York City bar, childhood friends Mike Kirban and Ira Liran met two young women from Brazil. When asked what they missed most about their country, the ladies said “agua de coco” which they called the most nutritious and delicious drink in the world. Two months later, Mike and Ira came up with a plan to spread the love for coconut water to the US. Vita Coco was born.
In 2007, Verlinvest partnered with the founders of Vita Coco to provide the capital to support the growth of the business, notably through expanded distribution in the US and international expansion. The result has been incredible brand recognition and sales growth since the company’s founding. More recently, Vita Coco’s parent company, All Market Inc., has grown its portfolio to include natural energy brand RUN and Ever & Ever, aluminium bottle-canned water that is easily and infinitely recyclable.
Hand-in-hand with the outstanding Vita Coco team, Verlinvest has helped establish Vita Coco as a truly global, health and wellness brand. Verlinvest, through its global offices in New York, Brussels, and Singapore, continues to work closely with the Vita Coco team to drive significant value.
Verlinvest is actively involved in all key business development decisions. In particular, Verlinvest brought ongoing strategic and analytical support to the CEO and helped prioritize key markets for the international expansion. We provided support to launch the business in the UK, helped recruit key managers and helped grow the business to its leading market position. Verlinvest also helped negotiate agreement with a key distributor in China and provided market insights to support the launch in Asia and Europe.
