Pureboost sells a powdered energy drink that has shown remarkable traction among a surprising demographic: women. Traditionally, the energy drink market is hyper-masculine in terms of both marketing messaging and clientele. Pureboost has found a way to create meaningful differentiation in the consumer packaged goods space — a very rare feat.
We wrote our Top Deal report on Pureboost in October 2022. We recently caught up with the Pureboost team to get an update on the state of the company.
Walking the Walk
When we first spoke to Pureboost last year, the company planned to roll out into 2,500 locations nationwide. The company is now officially in 2,500 retailers, including Walmart, Walgreens, and Meijer.
Notably, Pureboost has had a mega successful rollout with Costco.com, which has reordered two times ahead of schedule to keep up with increasing demand for the product. Costco also features Pureboost in its Costco Connection Magazine, which has a readership of 14 million. Costco has shown strong interest in eventually exploring a retail partnership with Pureboost, which would be a massive win for Pureboost. Pureboost is also in ongoing conversations with Publix, Target, CVS, Sprouts, and Whole Foods. Pureboost hopes to launch in these stores in 2023.
Strong Growth, But Behind Projections
Pureboost recorded $8.5 million in 2022 revenue. This is well below the $12 million that the company initially projected when we recommended it. Pureboost told us that this is because the company’s Amazon sales hit 72% of projected volume. However, compared to one year ago, Pureboost’s sales still showed double-digit growth. Additionally, Pureboost had projected to begin distribution in Target and Whole Foods by the end of the year. While the conversations have been going well, the companies had some shelf constraints that prevented them from moving forward. However, these stores are still very excited about working with Pureboost in the very near future.
It should be noted that Pureboost has secured all of its retail distribution in just one year. The company set lofty goals in its projections and still executed quite well, even though it fell a bit short.
Pureboost still recorded 16% revenue growth in 2022 and is on track for even bigger growth this year. I have no doubts that the company will get back on track. Despite revenue being below projections, the company still boasts a five-year compound annual growth rate of 167% — simply phenomenal in the startup world.
Perhaps the biggest development with Pureboost is its subscription revenue growth. A full 65% of the company’s total direct-to-consumer revenue comes from subscription revenue. This is a 43% year-over-year increase from 2021 and shows that Pureboost’s customers are getting stickier as the company matures.
Widespread Recognition
Pureboost has taken the crowdfunding industry by storm and is one of Wefunder’s most successful raises of the year. And some major publications are taking notice. Here are a few recent publications that have featured Pureboost:
- Yahoo: “Pureboost, #1 Best-Selling Clean Energy Drink, Raises $2,500,000 from 500 Retail Investors, and Counting!”
- Muscle & Fitness: “For Black Friday, Don’t Miss Out On These Health-Conscious Deals”
- Daily Mom: “20 Fitness Gifts That Will Pump Them Up All Season Long.”
End Goal
As we mentioned in our report last year, Pureboost needs to get acquired at around $100 million in revenue for investors to make a 10x return. The company is fully focused on hitting this target, and strong subscription sales coupled with additional retail rollouts should make this very possible. I remain very excited about Pureboost and its prospects for the next few years.
