Divinia Water, a premium filtered line which touts itself as “the cleanest bottled water on Earth,” has finished its seed funding round, pulling in $800,000. The funding will go toward new retail and distribution initiatives beyond its home market of Idaho.
In a call with BevNET, Divinia COO Kiersten Sedlmayr Landers said that the company attracted the attention of investors through interviews on natural foods podcasts and radio programs in addition to appearances at trade shows and conventions. The strategy helped bring in about $500,000 in the last quarter of 2016.
Currently, the company is working with eight different investors, including Ron Mezzetta of California-based Mezzetta food processing company.
“Our mission is to provide the cleanest water available on the market and they [investors] are behind us 100 percent. They see our vision, they see this niche that we’re going for.”
Divinia was in development for about 12 years. Landers’ father, inventor Steve Sedlmayr, began working to create a new water purification process that completely removed dissolved solids — zero parts per billion. It takes eight hours and 14 stages of filtration to purify three gallons of water. Citing testing at five colleges — including Penn State University and Washington State University — Divinia claims to be more hydrating than other waters with 102 percent oxygenation, which allows it to be more readily absorbed by cells.
Divinia is primarily sold online and retails for $2.40 per 16 oz. bottle. Landers said some of the funding will be used to refine the purification process in order to filter the water at faster rate plans to add a bigger purifier in place within the next two to three weeks. The company is also moving into a larger production facility and hiring new full-time employees.
Divinia will support its development with increased trade show representation and in-store sampling, each of which is intended to educate retailers and consumers about its unique water.
“We are creating a niche in a pretty saturated category, and educating consumers is paramount,” Landers said. “So we have placed a lot of emphasis in disseminating information via reliable sources like early adopters/brand ambassadors (who are doctors, nutritionists, health food store owners, professional athletes).”
The next major milestone, Landers said, is to break into Los Angeles and the Southern California market. Divinia is also working to get into “a large national natural food store” and expects to be deeper in the retail market within the next four to six months.