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Germany-based soft drinks brand Holy has raised €10.5 million in a Series A funding round to scale its offering across Europe. The funding round was led by global venture capital firm Left Lane Capital. Existing investors FoodLabs and Simon Capital (formerly known as Bitburger Ventures) joined the round. London-based consumer fund V3 Ventures (part of international consumer investment company Verlinvest) and the venture arm of Hamburg-based media company OMR also participated, alongside food and beverage industry experts such as Just Spices co-founder Bela Seebach and YFood founders Benjamin Kremer and Noel Bollmann. Holy, founded in Berlin in 2020, offers a powder-based soft drink range, designed to provide an eco-friendlier and healthier alternative to traditional soft drinks through its reduced packaging waste format and natural ingredients. Founder and CMO, Philipp Nass, said: “With low sugar, low calories, functional ingredients like vitamins, nootropics, antioxidants and fibre, as well as natural flavours and colours, our drinks really appeal to the next generation of consumers”. The company, currently operating as a direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand, has more than 200,000 customers for its Holy Energy and Holy Iced Tea products across Germany, France, Austria and Switzerland. The funding round has been described by investors as one of the most competitive consumer rounds this year, despite a current slump in DTC investment. It brings the total funding raised by Holy to €12.3 million. The funds will support the brand’s mission to become the leading healthier soft drink in Europe, with a strategy including new product launches, expanding into new territories including the UK and moving into retail channels. Mathias Horsch, founder and co-CEO, said: “Holy is currently a team of 25. Now we’re looking for new talent to fuel our product, geographic, and channel expansion as we accelerate our growth across Europe.”