Runa Guayusa (Discontinued)

Proceeds Will Benefit RUNA’s Non-Profit Organization, The RUNA Foundation, Improving Livelihoods for Amazonian Families

A longtime veteran of the food and beverage industry, Sarah Bird takes the reins from Bhakti founder Brook Eddy, who now serves as chairwoman of the company’s board of directors. Eddy remains “involved in the vision, innovation and culture” of Bhakti, according to the company.

Runa’s revamp was a project nearly 18 months in the making, but co-founder Tyler Gage believes that the company, a marketer of guayusa-based tea and energy drinks, finally got it right.

Guayusa-powered natural energy drink Runa confirmed today the long-rumored addition of Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio as an investor, joining a new wave of high-profile individual investors including fellow thespians Marlon Wayans and Adam Rodriguez.

Runa co-founder and president Tyler Gage said the company intends allocate its new funds through strengthening its consumer marketing efforts, a component of which will be putting Runa’s new investors to work.

His departure means an end to a highly-visible partnership between two Brown University friends who started a socially conscious brand that has deep roots in the Amazonian rainforest and Ecuadorean native tribes.

Last October, Runa opened its doors to a much bigger cash infusion from MetaBrand Capital, a newly launched investment arm of MetaBrand’s food and beverage consulting firm.

The private equity fund is looking to take a minority stake in 5 to 10 companies in the natural food, beverage and supplements space, with investments ranging between $500,000 and $2.5 million each.

Through the new fund, the company will primarily focus on growth capital investments in the food, beverage, nutrition and natural and organic product industries with strategic partners that embody and embrace a similar philosophy.

The investment is intended for Runa to use both the cash infusion and MetaBrand’s long, varied reach to grow its drinks business.

BOTHELL, Wash. — Essentia® Water and Runa® are pleased to announce the grand prizewinner of their joint “Own the Winter” Photo Contest, which asked consumers to submit photos via Facebook showing how they live winter to the fullest. After pouring over hundreds of entries from followers across the country, the judging team selected eight weekly winners […]

BOTHELL, Wash. — Essentia® Water, the innovator of the first bottled functional water brand in the United States, is partnering with Runa®, the first company to bring the guayusa super-leaf to the U.S., to host the Own the Winter photo contest launching Monday, Jan. 6, 2014. The promotion that runs through Friday, February 28 offers a grand prize eight-day […]

NEW YORK — Runa and their Amazonian “Super Leaf,” guayusa (pronounced “gwhy-you-sa”) won their first sofi™ Award last night from the Specialty Food Association at the Summer Fancy Food Show. The sofi Awards, which has honored the most outstanding specialty foods since 1972, awarded the beverage company with “Best USDA-Certified Organic Product” for their Runa […]

With Mike Kirban’s new-age-y approach to management, which he shared on stage during BevNET Live Summer ’13 last week in New York, he revealed that he had established Vita Coco as a state of both mind and business.