Tudor Drinks holds investment talks as it seeks growth funds

Tudor Drinks has been holding exploratory talks with potential investors as it hopes to raise funding or form a strategic partnership to support its growth strategy.

The company, whose brands include Harry Bromptons London Ice Tea and Loveau fruit infused sparkling water, is looking for financial support to expand its sales team, drive marketing effort and fund NPD, including functionally enhanced drinks and new pack formats.

“We grew to a place where now we just need to raise funds or form a strategic partnership to help take us to the next level,” said founder Ian O’Donohue.

“It is very challenging to be up against the big players with limited resources, but when you are outperforming other products without the support of big marketing spend and with a small team, you know you have a good product which would absolutely fly with the right level of help.”

The amount of equity up for sale has not been defined, with the company willing to give up a significant stake to the “right partner” who will help the brands “reach their full potential”.

Launched in 2014, Harry Bromptons has gained listings with Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Co-op, among others.

The brand grew to be the number three ice tea in the UK, behind Lipton and Fuze [Nielsen 52 w/e 3 November 2019] as revenues soared over 100% year on year.

Loveau, meanwhile, is available at Waitrose, Amazon and on British Airways flights. 

Overall, Tudor Drinks expects to achieve £1m in sales for the year ending March, with the figure set to double in 2021.

In 2016, the company closed a successful crowdfunding campaign, raising £300k on Crowdcube.