Taste Tomorrow Ventures, the venture capital arm of beverage incubator L.A. Libations, has made a strategic minority investment in happy products, the coffee brand co-founded by CPG industry veteran Craig Dubitsky and actor Robert Downey Jr. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal marks the venture capital firm’s fourth investment following the close of its $30 million TTV Fund I in May. TTV has also backed better-for-you iced tea maker Just Ice Tea, globally-inspired gummy candy producer Better Sour and functional beverage brand Juni.
“We bet on founders. When you invest early, the brands are still emerging, pivoting and changing, so the only through line for us is the founder. Our early investments have been in great founders and, in this case, it’s in Craig,” Danny Stepper, co-founder and CEO of L.A. Libations, told BevNET via email.
He continued, “We’re betting on [Craig] and the amazing trademark and brand he and Robert Downey Jr. have created. We don’t run into many people who work harder than we do, but in this case we have.”
Launched last year, happy produces a portfolio of ready-to-drink cold brews and lattes, ground and whole bean coffee and coffee pods crafted with 100% Arabica beans. Its products are available in over 16,000 doors and 65,000 points of distribution nationwide, including major retailers like Albertsons, Target, Walmart, Kroger and CVS, among others.
The RTD line, introduced roughly two months after happy’s debut with the goal of pulling in younger coffee drinkers, has been a “major growth driver,” according to Dubitsky. The brand will soon expand the collection with new 80-calorie flavored cold brews that deliver full flavor without the use of artificial ingredients.
The fresh funding will be used to support happy’s growth in retail and DSD expansion, the rollout of new innovations and deeper investment in marketing and storytelling.
“We’ve seen extraordinary momentum since launch across distribution, adoption and repeat rates, and we’re now focused on scaling that success responsibly and at pace,” Dubitsky told BevNET. “It’s about fueling the next chapter of a brand built to spark joy in every sip.”
In its mission to spark joy, happy has aligned itself with the largest mental health organization in the country, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). As part of the partnership, NAMI holds an ownership stake in happy, and every happy product includes details about NAMI’s mission and details directing consumers to the nonprofit’s suicide prevention hotline.
Happy has also embraced the power of brand collaborations, teaming up with Tate’s Bake Shop to create a limited edition Chocolatey Chip Cookie Latte and Chocolatey Chip Cookie Ground Coffee. Most recently, the coffee brand joined forces with actor Tom Holland’s BERO to launch two LTOs: BERO Coffee Drought and Happy Eternal Hoptimist ground coffee.
“The collaboration was born out of an honest-to-goodness friendship between Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Holland. The result was a unique crossover of coffee and non-alc beer sensibilities that delighted both audiences,” said Dubitsky. “I think it’s a great example of what happens when brands with heart and humor come together around shared values – magic can ensue, and that’s really the big idea.”
With its unique approach to the category, Stepper believes that happy is well-positioned to reinvigorate the RTD coffee space, which has seen an influx of entrants in recent years but remains dominated by the Starbucks-Pepsi alliance
“We believe that RTD coffee is ready to be modernized, just like Poppi and Olipop have done to the soda category,” said Stepper. “The timing of this reminds me of when we disrupted sports drinks with BOYDARMOR. This is an amazing-tasting, better-for-you entry into a big, tired, one-player category.”
Coffee has become a hotspot for celebrity- and influencer-backed ventures, including YouTuber Emma Chamberlain’s eponymous Chamberlain Coffee, “Stranger Things” star Millie Bobby Brown’s Florence by Mills Coffee and Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis’ JOLENE Coffee.
Dubitsky previously told BevNET that the partnership between himself and Downey was brought together through a mutual acquaintance and is not a case of a “light participant in the brand.” Rather, the actor is “in deep,” participating in everything from retail visits to broker team conversations to copy review.
In the year ahead, happy will double down on expanding its retail footprint and executing on its innovation pipeline.
“We’re focused on expanding awareness, deepening love for the brand, the products and ideals behind them and growing our velocity at retail,” said Dubitsky. “Our differentiation comes from a blend of exceptional taste, emotional resonance and a deeply embedded sense of purpose; we’re not just ‘another coffee brand,’ we’re in the happy business, and incredible coffee is our delivery system,” said Dubitsky.