COMPANY
In 2011, Whipstitch co-founder Mike Burgmaier had finished drinking a KeVita and was headed to BevNET. This was good. He needed to learn more, so he poked around to get the phone number of Co-Founder and CEO, Bill Moses. He called. The rest is history. KeVita—at that time a kombucha-alternative “sparkling probiotic beverage,” had recently seen national expansion in Whole Foods Market and was beginning to see some success in mainstream retail. But they were sub-$10 million in revenue, had been funded mostly by angel investors outside of the industry, and had a nascent team and operations.
WHIPSTITCH FIT
Having seen many companies and being experts in better-for-you beverage, it was apparent to Burgmaier right away that KeVita had something exceptional. Interestingly, the larger CPG investment community was generally not able to see that. Challenge accepted. Thus began a six-year journey between Whipstitch co-founders Burgmaier and Nick McCoy with Bill Moses and KeVita. Together, they would create something big.
RESULT
Over the six-year journey together, the Whipstitch team completed several transactions for KeVita: a convertible note; the company’s first institutional round from a CPG expert investor, KarpReilly; an equity deal with a strategic retailer that proved pivotal to growth and provided the scaling data needed for the eventual exit; a successful “two-step” deal with PepsiCo that began with a minority investment and a distribution deal; a family office-led add on round; and the eventual exit to PepsiCo that was completed at one-of the highest revenue multiples in the consumer sector over the past decade.
