Less than 2 months after One Capital invested in its Pre-A round, No Ordinary Drinks (NOD) a healthy beverage solutions company based in Shanghai, has raised a supplementary Pre-A round led by Proterra Investment Partners with co-investment from Linyi Hongying Technology Services Partnership. This new round was raised at an undisclosed nine-figure valuation.
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This new round of financing was closed rapidly to address the burgeoning market demand for NOD beverages. New capital will be used to ramp up production, to fulfil channel expansion, as well as, accelerate go-to-market activities for its two new product lines.
Proterra Investment Partners, which spun out of Cargill, (a global leader in providing food, agriculture, financial and industrial products and services), brings deep expertise in both upstream and downstream food and beverage related industries.
“We are proud and pleased to have Proterra invest and grow with us at NOD. They bring an immense network of resources to the table. The new funds will help us expand our channels that are ready and waiting to be deployed, to ramp up growth in the coming months, which will help provide the foundation for our next round of fund raising, slated to occur in the next three months. NOD is a brand born in China with global ambitions, driven by a team with a proven blend of in-depth China and international expertise in the beverage sector. Chinese brands can now compete on the global stage. Long gone is the negative stigma surrounding the label made in China like what happened with Japanese products in the early seventies. Chinese consumer brands now have the necessary quality and innovation to succeed globally. We are already seeing success stories in other sectors. Our goal at NOD is to make healthy drinks taste great again, rather than just another artificial tasting concoction. Consumers will never compromise on taste no matter how healthy the products. Therefore, it is imperative that our products continue to be at the forefront of ingredient technology. Additionally, from the beginning, we committed to be an ESG-compliant company, as this will further widen our market prospects,” says Chris Tay, founder of NOD.
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Currently, NOD collaborates with the three leading convenience store brands in China: Family Mart, Lawsons and 7-11. The new funding will enable us to increase our production capacity to gain a foothold into more major retailers and to invest more into social media, ecommerce, and trade marketing.
NOD has an ambitious overseas expansion plan, relying on a two-pronged approach starting with Singapore and Germany as the launching pads into South-East Asia and Europe respectively. Its plans are rooted in the extensive combination of resources and working relationships with retailers and partners in these two regions, that the founders have acquired in the past. According to Market Data Forecast , the European beverage market is worth USD 503.55 billion per annum and estimated to reach USD 633.54 billion in 2026 whilst Asia Pacific’s is USD 351.08 billion. Both these markets are growing at a CAGR of 4 to 6 percent.
Lobin Tjia, NOD’s head of marketing and co-founder believes that NOD will become as ubiquitous as Pepsi, Nestle or Coke. “NOD has aggressive plans to build our brand; one that is born in China but ready for the world stage. Our brand mission, products, communications, are developed in China, but are built on principles designed to have universal appeal with the right customization for local nuances. Our pioneering commitment to Stevia powering the naturally great taste of our sugar-free waters is one such case in point. To cut through the cluttered media environment, we will avoid the pitfalls of just relying on influencers as mobile billboards that have become near ubiquitous. We strive to create brand experiences that are current, memorable, and crucially echo back to our goal of making healthy beverages taste good and fun to drink. We are in the business of creating a brand recipe that is built to last, grounded on fundamentals versus fads,” says Tjia.
Founder Chris Tay is a serial entrepreneur and is now preparing NOD’s series A fundraise, which has already garnered serious interest from notable Asia Pacific institutional investors. This is not surprising as the healthy beverage market pie is big enough to accommodate a few strong players. Additionally, many countries in South-East Asia and Europe have adopted sugar taxes to improve nutrition levels and reduce obesity further fuelling NOD’s flavoured water prospects in these regions.
Proterra Asia’s managing partner Tai Lin said, “We are honored and privileged to become partners to the team at NOD. There is enormous untapped potential in China’s beverage market. Chinese consumers are demanding better tasting, healthier, and more innovative beverages, and this demand will be met by domestic champions. We believe the NOD team has the ability to succeed in this category. Equally important to us is NOD’s mission to grow sustainably and responsibly. We are excited to join Chris and team on this journey and will leverage our relationships in the sector to help the NOD team achieve their goals.”
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