Olipop
American beverage company
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Olipop is a prebiotic soft drink produced in the United States. It is sold in over 65,000 retailers nationwide[1] and the company is valued $1.85 billion as of February 2025.[2] The drink's marketing claims that it improves gut health.[3]
| |
 A can of Olipop Strawberry Vanilla | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Beverage |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Ben Goodwin David Lester |
| Headquarters | Oakland, California (USA) |
| Revenue |
|
| Website | drinkolipop |
The brand name Olipop is a portmanteau of the prebiotic fiber oligosaccharide (oli), and "pop", a common name for a soft drink in the United States.[4]
History
Background
Ben Goodwin started developing a soft drink after leaving a kombucha company in 2008.[4] He spent about $300,000 of his personal savings on the project, working in a makeshift lab with a microbiologist. The probiotic soft drink, named Obi, was created by 2012.[4] In 2013, Goodwin met with David Lester in a coffee shop, who had previously quit his job.[4] The two agreed to partner together in making Obi.[4] In 2016, the two sold Obi for an undisclosed amount after it failed to gain traction.[4][5] They then went on to work on Olipop.[4]
Olipop
Olipop was founded in 2018 by Ben Goodwin and David Lester with an initial investment of $100,000, taken from the sale of Obi. The drink was first released in three flavors: ginger lemon, strawberry vanilla and cinnamon cola. It sold in 40 grocery stores in its first year, in Northern California, and reached $852,000 in gross revenue. They later became on sale in Target and Walmart stores. The company gathered $2.5 million in seed funding in 2019.[4] As of April 2023[update], there were 12 Olipop flavors; in April 2024, there were 16 at Olipop's website.[6]
A series B funding round was carried out in 2022, which raised $39.7 million. Funders included Gwyneth Paltrow, Mindy Kaling, and the Jonas Brothers.[4] As of January 2023[update], Olipop raised a total of $55.4 million in funding.[6] Olipop reached $73.4 million in gross revenue in 2022,[4] a 223% year increase;[7] and it reached $100 million gross revenue in the first half of 2023.[4] According to Goodwin, sales of root beer Olipop has overtaken those of A&W.[6][7]
In 2022, Olipop created a banana cream flavor which was branded with Minions characters.[8] The drink is still produced today, albeit without the Minion or Despicable Me branding attached to it.
In 2024, Olipop collaborated with Mattel to create a new peaches and cream flavor themed around Barbie. The can sported a design showing different pieces of Barbie iconography. Like the banana cream flavor before it, after the promotion it became a mainstay flavor without the Barbie theming.
In 2025, the company raised $50 million in a Series C funding round, valuing the company at $1.85 billion. It had become profitable and its products were sold in over 50,000 stores.[9]
Also In 2025, Olipop, in Promotion For The SpongeBob Movie: Search For SquarePants, would release the soda flavor Pineapple Paradise, with the cans being sported with the character SpongeBob SquarePants in his pirate outfit he wore in the movie.[10] The promotion has currently not ended.
Operations
Flavors
Olipop has developed a variety of flavors:
- Ridge Rush (Lemon-Lime-Orange)
- Vintage Cola
- Peaches & Cream
- Classic Root Beer
- Cream Soda
- Classic Grape
- Crisp Apple
- Ginger Ale
- Strawberry Vanilla
- Cherry Cola
- Orange Squeeze
- Lemon Lime
- Ginger Lemon
- Doctor Goodwin
- Watermelon Lime
- Banana Cream
- Cherry Vanilla
- Tropical Punch
- Orange Cream
- Pineapple Paradise
- Shirley Temple
Its drinks require refrigeration. Olipop introduced shelf-stable versions of its product in 2024.[13] This shelf-stable line features a revised version of the company’s “proprietary” OLISMART fiber mix, replacing Chicory Root Inulin and Jerusalem Artichoke Inulin with Acacia Fiber and Guar Fiber for a roughly 30% reduction in fiber.[14]