waterdrop® has secured more than €100 million in funding from Aspeya, Atlantic Grupa, and Alpine Ski World Cup champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. The three partners join an already distinguished shareholder base that includes Temasek, Döhler, and Bitburger - as well as a number of the world's leading athletes - alongside the continued full backing of waterdrop's board, chaired by Hikmet Ersek. The announcement marks the most significant milestone in the company's history: a business that is profitable, growing, and now fuelled to move faster.
waterdrop® was founded in Vienna in 2016 with a clear mission: to help people Drink More Water in a tastier, more functional, and more convenient way. The company pioneered the Microdrink - a compact, sugar-free cube made with real fruit and plant extracts that dissolves in water to deliver great taste and real functional benefit wherever you are. A decade later, what began as one product has grown into a full hydration ecosystem: cubes across dozens of flavours, expanded with Microenergy for a caffeine boost and Microlyte for electrolyte replenishment, alongside design-led bottles and water filtration technology. Today, waterdrop® serves more than 5 million online customers worldwide, generates revenues of around €150 million, operates profitably, and is present across more than 20,000 retail outlets and approximately 50 dedicated stores across Europe, the United States, Japan, and Australia.
The announcement comes in a landmark year. 2026 marks ten years of waterdrop® - a decade of pioneering the Microdrink category and proving that a brand built around taste, functionality, and convenience could become a genuinely global force. As Official Bottle Partner of the Australian Open for the third consecutive year and a Gold Partner of the ATP Tour, waterdrop® has built its brand where performance culture and global audiences converge. World-class athletes - among them alpine ski champion Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who joins this round as brand ambassador and investor - have chosen waterdrop® not as a marketing arrangement but as a genuine part of how they compete, train, and recover.
"We have spent ten years building something we genuinely believe in - a brand that makes it easier and more enjoyable for people to drink more water, and a business that has earned the right to grow," says Founder and CEO Martin Murray. "Aspeya and Atlantic Grupa bring the strategic depth, the distribution reach, and the long-term conviction that this next chapter demands. We are profitable, we are growing, and with these partners behind us, we are ready to move faster - and go further - than ever before."
Aspeya, which is developing and commercializing a pipeline of wellness products and brands, takes a minority stake as part of its strategy to support companies shaping the future of consumer wellness. "waterdrop® has done something rare - it has created a category, built a loyal global community, and reached profitability without compromising on its mission," says Michael Kunst, CEO of Aspeya. "Aspeya was created to back companies that are genuinely shaping the future of consumer wellness, and waterdrop® is among the most compelling we have encountered. We are proud to be part of this next chapter."
Atlantic Grupa brings a dimension as valuable as the capital itself. As one of South and East Europe's most established food and beverage groups, and already waterdrop's distribution partner across Austria, Croatia, Serbia, and Slovenia, Atlantic Grupa deepens its commitment with a double-digit million euro investment and a seat on the Investment Committee. "We have seen waterdrop® grow up close. The brand resonates deeply with European consumers and reflects the trends and shared goals: premiumisation, functional hydration, and an uncompromising standard of taste. This investment reflects our conviction in waterdrop's long-term potential and our commitment to growing it together across Europe and beyond," says Lada Tedeschi Fiorio, Group Vice President, Corporate Strategy and Investments at Atlantic Grupa.
The investment will be deployed with clear intent. European expansion comes first - deepening retail operations, strengthening local teams, and scaling direct-to-consumer capabilities across key markets. Product development follows closely, with the next generation of innovations. The brand's recently announced partnership with Ricola - co-developing a herbal hydration range that brings together two iconic names united by a commitment to functional, great-tasting products - signals the kind of collaborations waterdrop® is now positioned to pursue at scale.
What comes next is as ambitious as anything the brand has done before. Hydration season is underway - and with it, the most comprehensive marketing campaign in waterdrop's history. A fully integrated push spanning out-of-home, digital, and live activations is running across the brand's core European markets, anchored by its presence at the ATP Tour this summer and amplified by the athletes who have made waterdrop® their hydration of choice. New flavours and product innovations are landing throughout the coming months. Local teams are being built out and strengthened across Europe. The category waterdrop® created is expanding. The brand that created it intends to lead it.
