Announcing our Investment in Tea Drops

Tea is popular. Like, two billion cups enjoyed a day-type popular. After water, tea is the most consumed drink in the world.

Tea Drops is an innovative tea company, which is a bit of an oxymoron. Despite the popularity of tea, there has been little innovation in the space. This is a category where combining hibiscus and green tea is a celebrated leap forward. Not much has changed with the experience of drinking tea since the tea bag was patented in 1903.

Sashee Chandran, Tea Drops’ Founder and CEO, grew up around traditional loose leaf tea, brewed by her Chinese mother and Sri Lankan father. Fun fact: her father was actually born on a tea estate. In their household, having tea was a way to connect and bring the family together. 

The idea for Tea Drops came to Sashee while she was working at eBay. In the fast-paced office, she found that she didn’t have the time (3-7 minutes of steeping alone) or equipment (tea infuser, tea kettle) necessary to make the fresh cup of loose leaf tea she craved. The only accessible option was stale tea bags - but Sashee didn’t want to sacrifice quality for convenience. Like any resourceful entrepreneur, Sashee set out to invent a solution to her problem.

At night and on the weekends, her apartment kitchen turned into a science lab, where Sashee experimented to figure out how to ditch the wasteful tea bag and brew loose leaf tea without any extra equipment. She came up with the concept of a “drop,” grinding loose leaf tea and pressing it into customized shapes, which could be easily carried and dissolved quickly - think bath bomb, but for tea!

Once the process was perfected, Sashee wrote the patent application herself and began crafting her own flavor blends. She launched Tea Drops in 2015, with Sashee initially funding the business with savings and a line of credit on her home. 

The product, and what the brand stands for, has resonated. Tea Drops offers an environmentally friendly, convenient, high quality tea experience. Tea Drops produces 15% less waste than traditional tea bags. With every box they sell, Tea Drops donates a year’s supply of clean water through the Thirst Project. Through this partnership, they have built 3 water wells and have donated enough clean water to support over 140,000 individuals and counting. They have hundreds of thousands of happy customers, new and experienced tea drinks alike, and even some high-profile fans.

Notably, Chrissy Teigen tweeted: “I can’t stop telling everyone I interact with about this tea. I think maybe my mind is blown because I’ve always been staunchly against tea most my life. I have no stake in this and do not know the people behind it but DAMN, I love it”

We love it too! We’re thrilled to announce that BrandProject has led a $5M Series A round in Tea Drops. We are partnering with a fantastic group of existing investors, including AF Ventures, Halogen Ventures and Cue Ball Capital, and are joined by new investor Siddhi Capital. Sashee is a force to be reckoned with, and we’re excited to support her as she continues to make high quality tea accessible, convenient and fun for all to enjoy.