Lucky Energy (formerly Lucky F*ck Energy) has closed an oversubscribed Series A round netting $11.75 million to bring the beverage brand’s total investment to $26.5 million.
The round was led by previous investor Brand Foundry with additional capital from Imaginary Ventures. New investors to the brand include Sapphire Sport and Sugar Capital.
“With the top three energy brands being over 20 years old, there is a clear demand for an anti-brand like Lucky Energy, which embodies positivity and has the potential for broad consumer appeal,” said Rico Mallozzi, principal at Sapphire Sport. “We look forward to supporting [Lucky Energy] not only as investors but also through Sapphire Sport’s iconic network of sports, media, and entertainment LPs.”
Launched by Kate Farms founder Richard Laver, Lucky Energy hit the market in August 2023 and secured a $4 million seed investment from Imaginary Ventures less than five months later. In April, the energy drink maker garnered a fresh $8 million from Brand Foundry.
“We’ve seen impressive growth on both the digital and social fronts, with our Instagram following multiplying from 1,000 to nearly 100,000 in the last year as we spread the message of authenticity, rebellion, and never giving up to our community,” Laver said. “This growth has lent itself to the 50 DSD contracts we’ve signed to date.”
Lucky Energy’s drinks come in 19.2 oz. tall cans and are available in five flavors: Red Ryder Punch, OG Luck, Orange Drizzle, Tropical Thrill and Bodacious Berry. The energy drinks have zero sugar, 200 mg of caffeine and use maca, ginseng, beta-alanine and taurine as active ingredients.
Carving out terrain in the competitive energy category can be tricky with a high volume of brands vying for a slightly declining amount of consumer dollars. Energy drink dollar sales rebounded to 0.7% in the most recent NielsenIQ data by Goldman Sachs Equity Research, after slipping in recent months. Volume was also up 0.5% in the most recent two-week sales data; whereas, it had been showing a downward trend all summer.
The brand has played with differentiating from competitors in the category with its clean energy ingredient deck and by first launching with an eye-catching name. In April, Lucky removed the expletive from its title and refreshed its branding.
The more approachable name and new Origins apparel launch has helped bolster brand awareness with Lucky expected to reach 8,000 retail doors by the end of the year, the company said in a press release statement.
Lucky has accrued talent from a number of other disruptor beverage brands as it takes cues on how to break new ground in energy drinks. The company added former Liquid Death executives Hamid Saify, Tyler Larkin, Rudra Persuad and Matt Rickert to fill out key roles in marketing, sales, finance and operations respectively. Also joining the team has been its new Chief Growth Officer Aaron Sorelle who brings experience in energy drink sales from Gorgie and Nutrabolt’s C4.
Lucky appears to be leaning into professional sports partnership with its investment from Sapphire Sport. Recently, the Lucky team activated a guerilla marketing campaign at this year’s U.S. Open in Queens, N.Y. scoring a shoutout on Instagram from Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios (founder Richard Laver is cousin to Australian tennis star Rod Laver).