Coconut water brand Zico Rising has raised $14 million, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted on January 27. The Form D indicates that the company raised slightly more than $14 million of a potential $15 million round.
The filing also showed the company closed a $4 million round on Dec. 1, 2022. It is not clear if they were part of a series of transactions.
PowerPlant Ventures co-founder and managing partner Mark Rampolla, who created Zico in 2004, purchased the company back from the Coca-Cola Co., Inc. in early 2021 as part of an effort to cull about 200 underperforming global brands from its portfolio.
The revamped business, called Zico Rising, markets pure and flavored coconut waters, and introduced its first sub-line, Zico Hydrate, last fall.
The Jan. 27 filing also lists Adam Borod, managing director at RWN Management, as a director. RWN is a family office investing money on behalf of Marc Rowan, a co-founder of Apollo Global Management, a well-known private equity firm. Borod replaced Logan Schwarz, an executive from PowerPlant Partners, as a director.
Along with CEO Tom Hicks and Rampolla, Zico Rising’s other three board members are Chuck Muth and Rebecca Messina, two former executives with Coca-Cola’s VEB innovation unit which acquired Zico in 2013.
The market for coconut water was valued at$5 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow to over $11 billion by 2027, according to data from Research and Markets.
In June, the strategic partnership between PowerPlant and SYSTM Brands acquired functional beverage brand REBBL and Chameleon Coffee as part of the newly formed SYSTM Foods. PowerPlant Partners went on to close a $330 million Fund III in September, doubling its previous Fund II.
Representatives of Zico Rising and RWN Management did not respond to a request for comment.