New Hampshire-based NOBL Beverages, working with a group of private equity investors, has acquired defunct energy drink brand MATI for an undisclosed sum and plans to relaunch the organic drink line this year, the company announced today.
Launched out of a Duke University dorm room by founder Tatiana Birgisson in 2012, MATI is a better-for-you, guayusa-based energy drink that raised over $15 million through several financing rounds. In 2019 the company, then under new management, rebranded in a move to reach mainstream consumers, but it shut down production in January, citing a lack of funds despite beginning a return to growth. CEO Eric Masters said at the time that he believed the brand, which was available in about 2,000 retail stores nationwide, had the potential to become profitable but that the company “ran out of time” and was unable to secure outside investment.
The acquisition is the first for NOBL, which produces a line of ready-to-drink cold brew coffee sold in over 500 retail stores in the Northeast as well as offering DSD distribution and co-packing services. According to founder and CEO Connor Roelke, the decision to acquire MATI comes as the company looks to build a cross-category brand portfolio with broader nationwide reach.
NOBL partnered with a group of individual venture capitalists, but Roelke declined to disclose who was involved in the deal. He noted they have experience in the beverage industry and that the group will bring “interesting talent” that will help to quickly relaunch MATI.
“When we changed the name last year from NOBL Coffee to NOBL Beverages, the plan was to sort of become a company with different arms,” Roelke said. “This was one of the things that was going to happen, regardless of whether it was MATI or another product. So I think this will be one of the first of a couple of opportunities as we come across them in the next couple years.”
According to Roelke, NOBL had sought to expand its co-packing capabilities this year and initially reached out to MATI in February to purchase equipment from its production facility, including canning lines and tanks with capacity of 180 barrels. NOBL ultimately agreed to acquire the entirety of MATI’s assets down to “the paper towel dispensers on the walls,” Roelke said. But after speaking with Masters, Roelke opted to purchase the IP to the MATI brand as well.
NOBL has since moved the equipment to its facility in New Hampshire and will use the expanded line to produce both MATI and products for co-packing clients. The company now has a production capacity of about 240 barrels per day, he said.
New production on MATI will begin next month and NOBL has also acquired the remaining supply of unsold cans, which were produced in December. Roelke said the company will aim to keep MATI in stock in many of its current retailers, but will need to focus on restoring distribution to pre-closure levels and regenerating lost momentum. The company is also interviewing former MATI sales and marketing employees to continue in their current roles as well as seeking out new hires.
Roelke said that while NOBL’s coffee brand has built a strong regional customer base, the number of competitors has led to an “insanely crowded” category that has made it difficult to expand outside of the Northeast. MATI, which was previously headquartered in North Carolina, will give NOBL access to the Southeast market and the company will aim to sell both lines — as well as future portfolio brands — together where possible.
“The nice thing about MATI is it will probably expand our distribution further south and faster than we would have done on our own organically,” he said. “Now it’s about finding good like-minded distributors that are aligned with what our own distribution company is doing.”