Key facts:
- LARQ, a self-cleaning refillable water bottle startup, raised $10M
- Last year alone, it has sold more than 75,000 of its $95 bottles, notably through retail. It is an impressive feat for a product priced 3 to 4 times the cost of its direct competitors (which don’t include the cleaning technology)
- Led by Seventure, the round will help the company expand further
- 88 retailers in 16 countries already sell the bottle
Why it matters – DigitalFoodLab’s opinion:
LARQ is an interesting example of two growing trends. First, the use of “real” technology for everyday use, such as drinking fresh and clean water. Even more notable is the dual presence of a strong DTC (Direct-To-Consumer) e-commerce presence with all the tools of a DNVB (a strong community proved by a more than ten times oversubscribed crowdfunding and a strong brand) and retail operations. Counterintuitively, using retail stores to grow fast in as many countries as possible enables the brand to reach many more consumers than what it could have with only online operations.
