1 month ago
18
10:47 AM PDT · March 11, 2026
26 min
For years, task capitalists person been skeptical of beverage startups, citing bladed margins and brutal organisation arsenic reasons astir brands ne'er interruption out. But a caller question of “functional soda” companies has been challenging that assumption, including Poppi, the prebiotic soda marque that grew from a room experimentation into a $1.95 billion acquisition by PepsiCo.
On this occurrence of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, is joined by Poppi co-founder Allison Ellsworth to speech astir gathering a beverage startup successful a task satellite dominated by SaaS and AI. From pitching connected Shark Tank portion 9 months large to going viral connected TikTok and buying a last-minute Super Bowl ad, Ellsworth breaks down what it truly takes to physique a category-defining user marque — and what she looks for present that she’s backmost connected Shark Tank arsenic an capitalist herself.
Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and each the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, astatine @EquityPod.
Theresa Loconsolo is an audio shaper astatine TechCrunch focusing connected Equity, the network’s flagship podcast. Before joining TechCrunch successful 2022, she was 1 of 2 producers astatine a four-station conglomerate wherever she wrote, recorded, voiced and edited content, and engineered unrecorded performances and interviews from guests similar lovelytheband. Theresa is based successful New Jersey and holds a bachelors grade successful Communication from Monmouth University.
You tin interaction oregon verify outreach from Theresa by emailing theresa.loconsolo@techcrunch.com.
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