No water, no life. It is a unique natural element and one of the most valuable resources of our planet. Water waste and misuse contribute to water scarcity and unequal access for millions of people worldwide. An Austrian hydration startup waterdrop is committed to its careful use.
Bagged €60M
Now, waterdrop has announced that it has bagged a Series B funding of €60 million ($70 million). The financing round was led by Singapore-based global investment firm Temasek that invested in London fintech Global Processing Services and the world’s first hybrid games platform PortalOne among others. Existing shareholders Bitburger Ventures and Founders Future also participated in the round.
This fundraising proves that waterdrop’s vision of changing the fundamentals of the beverage industry is becoming a reality. The startup will use the funds to further accelerate its global expansion and continuous R&D investment.
“Our approach to the water business is to develop ecological solutions to promote responsible consumption of tap water and avoid the outdated idea of having to bottle and ship unsustainable and mostly unhealthy beverages. Tap water is a safe, economical and sustainable source of drinking water.” said Martin Murray, founder & CEO of waterdrop®. “Today, sustainability is not a privilege: it is a requirement! It’s encouraging to align with one of the world’s leading investment firms on our vision for a new revolutionary era in the beverage industry.”
Martin Murray, founder & CEO said “We are growing strongly across Europe and just entered the USA mid of last year. In the next few years we will pursue our expansion mainly in the USA and then via South-East Asia to China. We are proud to be an Austrian company yet in the medium term we will have offices in the US, Paris, London, Brno and Singapore. We are already a plastic-positive company, and we aim to go much further in our efforts. It’s time to pull our act together and embrace eco-responsible solutions.”
Sustainable hydration tech
waterdrop was Founded in 2016 in Austria by Martin Murray, Christoph Hermann, and Henry Murray. Its vision is to become the world‘s leading hydration brand that empowers all people to live healthier and more sustainable lives. It is all about drinking water and staying hydrated in a sustainable way.
The team wants want to make waterdrop to be the leading global hydration brand and spread our core message – “Drink More Water” – worldwide.
waterdrop has grown to over 1 million online customers and over 200 employees. Also, it is listed in over 10,000 retail outlets and operates via over 20 own stores in Europe and in the USA.
Microdrink: All you need to know
Currently, over 500 billion plastic bottles are produced annually. It is estimated that over 52 billion litres of water are bottled and transported every year in Europe. This is equivalent to 1 million tons of plastic each year in Europe alone.
It has revolutionised the beverage industry with the world’s first ‘microdrink’, a compact sugar-free cube, which dissolves in water and enriches it with natural fruits, plants and vitamins.
Its flagship product, microdrink weighs less than 3 grams and can enrich up to about 1000ml of water based on the consumer’s taste profile. In comparison to traditional bottled drinks, microdrinks minimise transport-related CO2 emissions and plastic use as well by up to a whopping 98 percent.
This is possible with individual recyclable packaging of each cube. The brand is developing drinkware and filtration systems to provide its customers with a whole hydration solution.
Notably, the plastic in a single cap of a traditional bottle is equivalent to that on 10 microdrinks. Recently, waterdrop entered the beverage tech industry with the release of LUCY, which is the first smart cap capable of filtering water through an UV-C system.
