From swimming with the Sharks to securing seed funding, this San Francisco-based founder wants you to drink more weird water.
In case you haven’t noticed, sparkling water is having a moment. Brands both big and small are jumping aboard the fizzy h2o train (errr… boat?). But the world doesn’t need another sparkling water with flat flavors like grapefruit, lemon and berry. So, how do you stand out? Weird water.
Aura Bora is the brainchild of founders Paul and Maddie Voge, who, being unsatisfied with the flavors on the market, started experimenting in the kitchen… muddling together fresh fruits with flowers and herbs. The duo initially launched their sparkling water concoctions to a test market in October 2019 and since have quickly grown the brand, appearing on Shark Tank in 2020 and securing $2 million in funding in 2021.
Paul spoke with Foodboro about his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of starting a CPG company, how he manages work/life balance while building a startup, and what’s next for the innovative beverage brand.
We were both working for companies outside of CPG.
What led you to entrepreneurship, and why now?
After tasting a lot of products from our office fridges, we noticed that sparkling water was the most consumed drink, but least enjoyed of the beverage set. This sparked our interest in experimenting with weird flavor combinations using our at-home carbonator. We loved sharing our weird water combinations with friends at parties, and with their stamps of approval, we started our journey towards creating Aura Bora as you know it today.
Retail relationships: do you sell mostly DTC? What retailers do you work with?
Aura Bora does sell DTC, but can also be found in 2000+ retailers including Sprouts, Whole Foods, Thrive Market and many natural grocery stores.
Who in the industry do you turn to for inspiration?
Justin Gold of Justin’s Peanut Butter
Ibrahim Basir of A Dozen Cousins
Jeni of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
Kathleen King of Tate’s Bake Shop
Any other brands in the industry that you think are killing it?
Acid League is a phenomenal example of the magic that happens when you marry great packaging with great product. We’re inspired by the way they’ve invigorated their category.
Let’s talk Shark Tank: what was this experience like for you, and what was the outcome? What impact did this have on Aura Bora?
Overall, Shark Tank was an amazing experience. We had to make sure we were ready to respond to any deal that could be presented on the fly. Comedically, we weren’t - because I almost said yes to a deal that literally the other sharks stopped me from taking. The customers who came in through Shark Tank are still loyal to the brand today.
What have been the challenges of navigating the CPG industry? Especially in the competitive sparkling water category?
If you ask this question to anyone in the CPG industry in the past two years, they will likely say something along the lines of “supply chain issues”. While this issue has become nearly cliched, it truly was a challenge (how do you make sure that you’re doing everything you can to protect in-stock status without overbuilding inventory); disruption at certain retailers (what do you do when a buyer gets covid, waiting game has huge impact on business; growth becomes less predictable)
How to build culture in a remote-first environment (growing team at a decent pace and most people on team haven’t met in person), leaned into camp counselor to make feel less transactional.
Limited Edition flavor drops: how have you had success with this?
Our LTOs have been a blast to make – and people seem to like them! Our goal with LTOs always goes back to our brand ethos: to continue to engage the consumer with newness and weirdness. Our most loyal consumers are excited by Aura Bora because they love weird water. What’s weirder than random drops of never-before-combined flavors?
As a founder, what do you do to take care of your health (physical and mental)?
We are major outdoors people. Our mental and physical self care practices often look similar: go outside and do something!
What advice do you have for early-stage entrepreneurs?
Leave enough margin for trade spend.
It sounds cliche, but if you believe in your product, others will too. Be unwavering in your belief.
At the same time, it’s critical to ask what you don’t know; you’ll never get faulted for being curious, but you will get faulted for being arrogant or all-knowing. The CPG community loves to help each other, so don’t miss out on an opportunity to benefit from this shared knowledge.
What foods do you always have in your cupboards/fridge?!
Siete chips, Tate’s cookies, cold cans of Aura Bora (of course).
In case you haven’t noticed, sparkling water is having a moment. Brands both big and small are jumping aboard the fizzy h2o train (errr… boat?). But the world doesn’t need another sparkling water with flat flavors like grapefruit, lemon and berry. So, how do you stand out? Weird water.
Aura Bora is the brainchild of founders Paul and Maddie Voge, who, being unsatisfied with the flavors on the market, started experimenting in the kitchen… muddling together fresh fruits with flowers and herbs. The duo initially launched their sparkling water concoctions to a test market in October 2019 and since have quickly grown the brand, appearing on Shark Tank in 2020 and securing $2 million in funding in 2021.
Paul spoke with Foodboro about his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of starting a CPG company, how he manages work/life balance while building a startup, and what’s next for the innovative beverage brand.
We were both working for companies outside of CPG.
What led you to entrepreneurship, and why now?
After tasting a lot of products from our office fridges, we noticed that sparkling water was the most consumed drink, but least enjoyed of the beverage set. This sparked our interest in experimenting with weird flavor combinations using our at-home carbonator. We loved sharing our weird water combinations with friends at parties, and with their stamps of approval, we started our journey towards creating Aura Bora as you know it today.
Retail relationships: do you sell mostly DTC? What retailers do you work with?
Aura Bora does sell DTC, but can also be found in 2000+ retailers including Sprouts, Whole Foods, Thrive Market and many natural grocery stores.
Who in the industry do you turn to for inspiration?
Justin Gold of Justin’s Peanut Butter
Ibrahim Basir of A Dozen Cousins
Jeni of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
Kathleen King of Tate’s Bake Shop
Any other brands in the industry that you think are killing it?
Acid League is a phenomenal example of the magic that happens when you marry great packaging with great product. We’re inspired by the way they’ve invigorated their category.
Let’s talk Shark Tank: what was this experience like for you, and what was the outcome? What impact did this have on Aura Bora?
Overall, Shark Tank was an amazing experience. We had to make sure we were ready to respond to any deal that could be presented on the fly. Comedically, we weren’t - because I almost said yes to a deal that literally the other sharks stopped me from taking. The customers who came in through Shark Tank are still loyal to the brand today.
What have been the challenges of navigating the CPG industry? Especially in the competitive sparkling water category?
If you ask this question to anyone in the CPG industry in the past two years, they will likely say something along the lines of “supply chain issues”. While this issue has become nearly cliched, it truly was a challenge (how do you make sure that you’re doing everything you can to protect in-stock status without overbuilding inventory); disruption at certain retailers (what do you do when a buyer gets covid, waiting game has huge impact on business; growth becomes less predictable)
How to build culture in a remote-first environment (growing team at a decent pace and most people on team haven’t met in person), leaned into camp counselor to make feel less transactional.
Limited Edition flavor drops: how have you had success with this?
Our LTOs have been a blast to make – and people seem to like them! Our goal with LTOs always goes back to our brand ethos: to continue to engage the consumer with newness and weirdness. Our most loyal consumers are excited by Aura Bora because they love weird water. What’s weirder than random drops of never-before-combined flavors?
As a founder, what do you do to take care of your health (physical and mental)?
We are major outdoors people. Our mental and physical self care practices often look similar: go outside and do something!
What advice do you have for early-stage entrepreneurs?
Leave enough margin for trade spend.
It sounds cliche, but if you believe in your product, others will too. Be unwavering in your belief.
At the same time, it’s critical to ask what you don’t know; you’ll never get faulted for being curious, but you will get faulted for being arrogant or all-knowing. The CPG community loves to help each other, so don’t miss out on an opportunity to benefit from this shared knowledge.
What foods do you always have in your cupboards/fridge?!
Siete chips, Tate’s cookies, cold cans of Aura Bora (of course).
In case you haven’t noticed, sparkling water is having a moment. Brands both big and small are jumping aboard the fizzy h2o train (errr… boat?). But the world doesn’t need another sparkling water with flat flavors like grapefruit, lemon and berry. So, how do you stand out? Weird water.
Aura Bora is the brainchild of founders Paul and Maddie Voge, who, being unsatisfied with the flavors on the market, started experimenting in the kitchen… muddling together fresh fruits with flowers and herbs. The duo initially launched their sparkling water concoctions to a test market in October 2019 and since have quickly grown the brand, appearing on Shark Tank in 2020 and securing $2 million in funding in 2021.
Paul spoke with Foodboro about his entrepreneurial journey, the challenges of starting a CPG company, how he manages work/life balance while building a startup, and what’s next for the innovative beverage brand.
We were both working for companies outside of CPG.
What led you to entrepreneurship, and why now?
After tasting a lot of products from our office fridges, we noticed that sparkling water was the most consumed drink, but least enjoyed of the beverage set. This sparked our interest in experimenting with weird flavor combinations using our at-home carbonator. We loved sharing our weird water combinations with friends at parties, and with their stamps of approval, we started our journey towards creating Aura Bora as you know it today.
Retail relationships: do you sell mostly DTC? What retailers do you work with?
Aura Bora does sell DTC, but can also be found in 2000+ retailers including Sprouts, Whole Foods, Thrive Market and many natural grocery stores.
Who in the industry do you turn to for inspiration?
Justin Gold of Justin’s Peanut Butter
Ibrahim Basir of A Dozen Cousins
Jeni of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream
Kathleen King of Tate’s Bake Shop
Any other brands in the industry that you think are killing it?
Acid League is a phenomenal example of the magic that happens when you marry great packaging with great product. We’re inspired by the way they’ve invigorated their category.
Let’s talk Shark Tank: what was this experience like for you, and what was the outcome? What impact did this have on Aura Bora?
Overall, Shark Tank was an amazing experience. We had to make sure we were ready to respond to any deal that could be presented on the fly. Comedically, we weren’t - because I almost said yes to a deal that literally the other sharks stopped me from taking. The customers who came in through Shark Tank are still loyal to the brand today.
What have been the challenges of navigating the CPG industry? Especially in the competitive sparkling water category?
If you ask this question to anyone in the CPG industry in the past two years, they will likely say something along the lines of “supply chain issues”. While this issue has become nearly cliched, it truly was a challenge (how do you make sure that you’re doing everything you can to protect in-stock status without overbuilding inventory); disruption at certain retailers (what do you do when a buyer gets covid, waiting game has huge impact on business; growth becomes less predictable)
How to build culture in a remote-first environment (growing team at a decent pace and most people on team haven’t met in person), leaned into camp counselor to make feel less transactional.
Limited Edition flavor drops: how have you had success with this?
Our LTOs have been a blast to make – and people seem to like them! Our goal with LTOs always goes back to our brand ethos: to continue to engage the consumer with newness and weirdness. Our most loyal consumers are excited by Aura Bora because they love weird water. What’s weirder than random drops of never-before-combined flavors?
As a founder, what do you do to take care of your health (physical and mental)?
We are major outdoors people. Our mental and physical self care practices often look similar: go outside and do something!
What advice do you have for early-stage entrepreneurs?
Leave enough margin for trade spend.
It sounds cliche, but if you believe in your product, others will too. Be unwavering in your belief.
At the same time, it’s critical to ask what you don’t know; you’ll never get faulted for being curious, but you will get faulted for being arrogant or all-knowing. The CPG community loves to help each other, so don’t miss out on an opportunity to benefit from this shared knowledge.
What foods do you always have in your cupboards/fridge?!
Siete chips, Tate’s cookies, cold cans of Aura Bora (of course).
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