Today’s hot topic is fundraising. And what could be better than talking fundraising with our favorite weird sparkling water brand, Aura Bora. Aura Bora just raised a Series A round, led by Siddhi capital, bringing their lifetime funding as a brand to $10 million, and co-founder Paul Voge is here to share the details with us. Paul and his wife Maddie founded Aura Bora in 2019, and they make sparkling water from herbs, fruits, and flowers for earthly tastes and heavenly feelings. They use unique ingredients like basil, cactus, and lavender for a better-tasting experience, all while donating 1% of annual revenue to environmental causes via 1% For The Planet. Aura Bora is one of the fastest-growing beverage brands in the country with their 0 calorie, 0 sugar, non-GMO, plant-based, and craft flavors.

Listen in as Paul shares about:

• Aura Bora’s different funding stages from friends and family, to seed rounds, to the recent Series A with institutional investors
• How he learned about the world of fundraising and his recommendations for getting started
• The logistics behind tackling fundraising from staying organized, to working as a team, to a favorite question to ask someone who says “No”
• How he says motivated and how they’ve built long term relationships with potential investing partners along the way
• The newly formed Aura Bora board of directors and what that means
• How Aura Bora will use the funds and exciting future growth plans
• And more!

This episode was sponsored by Mondelēz International - applications for the 2023 SnackFutures CoLab program are open now! Go to applycolab.com

Episode Links:

• Aura Bora website & IG @drinkaurabora
• Paul’s LinkedIn
• Resources mentioned by Paul: Book “Venture Deals” by Brad Feld, Book “High-Hanging Fruit” by Mark Rampolla, Book “Mission in a Bottle” by Seth Goldman & Barry Nalebuff, The Angel Group, SKU Accelerator, Y Combinator Safe documents, Law Firm Giannuzzi Lewendon, Law Firm Foster Garvey, DocSend as a data room
• News coverage of the recent Aura Bora fundraise: Food Business, Food Navigator
• Other Startup CPG episodes mentioned: Venture Capital 101, Ask Seth Goldman Anything
• Other podcast interviews mentioned: Paul’s interview on In the Sauce
• Watch Aura Bora on Shark Tank Season 12, Episode 11 (clip here)
• Forbes article "The Seltzer Industry Is Notoriously Tough, But Here’s How Aura Bora Convinced Siddhi Capital Of Its Business Viability"
• Brand mentioned: Super Coffee

Mondelēz International‘s SnackFutures CoLab program:

• Apply for the 2023 cohort here (open as of 9/20/22)
• Podcast episode #67 sharing the CoLab experience of Bunny James Boxes
• Podcast episode #54 sharing the CoLab experience of alumni Pan's Mushroom Jerky and GoNanas
• Podcast episode with the Mondelēz International team about CoLab
• SnackFutures website
• Mondelēz International website

Show Links:

• Join the Startup CPG Slack community (9K+ members and growing!)
• Follow @startupcpg
• Visit host Jessi's Linkedin or website
• Questions or comments about the episode? Email Jessi at [email protected]