After pulling off its first activation at the X Games last month, zero-sugar soda No Cap (stylized “NO CAP!”) is putting more fuel in the tank for the second-half of 2025 with $3 million in new investment to support supply chain optimization and marketing support.
The round, led by San Diego-based Pinnacle Investment Group, comes as No Cap is launching chainwide at retailer Five Below, preparing to enter five divisions of Kroger and closing on a partnership with Target. The capital will go towards shoring up the company’s supply chain (“my biggest headache at this point,” said co-founder Sam Wilson) as it expands distribution and prepares to launch two variety 8-packs in 7.5 oz. mini-cans next year. The cash will also go towards adding field marketing reps in key regions to support its DSD partners.
Getting the product positioned to take advantage of category white space has taken some time: earlier this year, No Cap dropped fiber from its formulation, signed a licensing deal with candy maker Albanese, and moved from 12 oz. to a 16 oz. cans to differentiate itself from the growing prebiotic soda set. In August, a callout for electrolytes will be added. That work has given No Cap a clear identity within the category that is resonating with grocery buyers, according to Sam and Vinny Wilson, the father-son team running the brand.
“Now it’s time to really hone in, not only from a dashboard perspective to understand our COGS from start to finish but really get in the weeds so we can better understand where we need to be versus where we are,” Sam told BevNET last week.
Since launching last year, No Cap has made targeting grassroots youth action sports a centerpiece of its marketing strategy. Yet the true test of that thesis came over the course of three days in Salt Lake City, Utah, last month when the brand jumped in as an official partner at the X Games alongside heavy hitters Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar. Against that backdrop, Sam and Vinny Wilson, the father-son team running the brand, said the company sampled over 10,000 cans, or roughly one-third of the 30,000 attendees over the course of the three-day event.
“For every dad that was there at X Games, walking around with three kids, that’s one Monster for dad and three kids that are beverage-less,” said Vinny Wilson. “They see us 50 feet away from the Monster tent, and next thing I know, we got three kids hooked up with some No Cap.”
The company’s ROI for the event was multilayered: according to Vinny, this year’s X Games saw a 328% increase in Gen Z viewership and over 50% growth in 18 to 24-year-old audience. They also made an impression in surreptitiously sidestepping restrictions on sampling full cans (as mandated by the event’s official soda partner, Pepsi) by pouring into No Cap-branded red Solo cups.
Beyond handing out product, establishing an “emotional connection” to its athlete partners and the global action sports community was a major win for No Cap, said Sam. Its athletes brought home three medals (one gold, silver and bronze each) from the X Games. “This is what athletes need: to feel as part of the team, not just the transaction,” Sam noted.
Sam and Vinny are eager to keep the momentum going as they head into their next event, the 2025 U.S. Open of Surfing, held in No Cap’s home base of Huntington Beach, California starting this Saturday. Placed alongside major sponsors like Lexus and Cerveza Pacifico, No Cap is the exclusive action sports sponsor of the week-long event; along with a full activation booth, the brand is hosting a freestyle moto show on the beach featuring Jaryyd McNeil and a host of riders.
“We’re really seeing that expansion and that adoption from multiple major events that are saying ‘now we’ve left out an entire category,’” said Vinny. “And these kids don’t just want a bottle of water.”