This Round’s on Us. Announcing Our Plans for Expansion on the Heels of Our $12 Million Seed Funding

It’s almost unbelievable that just a little over a year ago we started our journey at Boisson and set out to show that non-alcoholic beverages can spark curiosity, foster connections, and provide social enjoyment and engagement. In February 2021, Boisson opened its doors to sobriety to New Yorkers for the first time.

We’ve rapidly expanded since and can certainly say that the past year’s been a year of extraordinary growth for our company. Since opening our first brick-and-mortar location in Cobble Hill, we’re now totaling nine locations in the US, with upcoming global expansion in mind.?

With this success, we’re beyond excited to announce that we raised $12 million in our seed funding round! The round is co-led by Connect Ventures , a joint venture between Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) , and by Blue Scorpion Investments . Additional investments have been made by Red Krypton and Midnight Venture Partners .?

We’re so thankful for all of our investors’ support in our mission to create more inclusive ways to drink, celebrate, and elevate the NA beverage culture by making the act of drinking more positive, inclusive, and mindful.?

SUSTAINABILITY

Our mindful approach is holistic, and we strive to ensure that the products are harmless not only for our customers, but for everyone. We’ve already achieved impressive results in making our supply chain more sustainable, with every e-commerce shipment now leaving our warehouse fully carbon offset. Our NYC delivery team uses bikes, not cars, and delivery vehicles resupplying our stores and delivering to on and off-premise accounts are all-electric—but we don’t just stop there. We’re always on the lookout for the most innovative and environmentally responsible alternatives to traditional retail solutions.

One of the most recent eco-friendly initiatives we’re super excited about is our novel approach to packaging. We’ve collaborated with the renowned transportation and logistics company UPS to refine our packaging, and our goal now is to minimize the amount of plastic in it to adhere to the highest standards of sustainability. These details mean a lot to us, and it’s the support from investors that made all those changes possible.

CUSTOMER NEEDS

Another pillar of our framework is fostering meaningful connections with customers. As a non-alcoholic retailer, we’re lucky to be unencumbered by the limitations of the three-tier system of product distribution. In the traditional alcoholic beverage distribution model, manufacturers barely know their customers. At Boisson, we have a direct relationship with producers and consumers. We know what’s selling and trending, and what our consumers are in the market for, which allows us to bring the parties together and ensure that everyone’s needs are served. That helps us build a better relationship with the consumer, who in turn can make a more informed choice. With the support we’ve received from the investors, we can continue building trust and connecting the brands we work with to consumers—both for at-home consumption and now at their favorite bars and restaurants.

OPTIONALITY

The desire to give our customers a choice is one of the key parts of Boisson’s ethos: we aim to satisfy the craving for optionality. We started Boisson based on our own needs for better, more curated non-alcoholic drink options, and quickly saw the huge need consumers were seeking in the category. In just a year, we’ve had an incredible response in NYC and through our e-commerce platform, and are excited to bring an in-store experience, and other resources, to more drinkers looking to try something different.

Since opening our first brick-and-mortar location in NY back then in 2021, we quickly grew to five NYC stores located on the UES and UWS, in the West Village, Williamsburg, and Cobble Hill. This new investment means expansion to the West Coast. We’re initially opening three new stores in Los Angeles (in the Beverly Hills, Brentwood, and Studio City neighborhoods), and by the end of 2022, we’ll have more than a dozen locations in the US total, all while already exploring international expansion.

PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS?

We’re also extremely proud of all the amazing collaborations we’ve had so far. We’ve got to partner up with a slew of brilliant celebrity founders such as Bella Hadid, Blake Lively, and Katy Perry and such amazing brands like Reiss , St. Regis Hotels & Resorts , and Bloomingdale's , to name a few. In collaboration with the St. Regis, we organized The Summer Lodge x Roy Choi Dinner in Aspen, CO, where we offered an exclusive five-course dinner experience hosted by Roy Choi, the famed chef and restaurateur named as one of TIME's most influential people. This summer, we partnered with the iconic The Surf Lodge in Montauk, where we offered an elaborate cocktail menu, dinner and brunch series, weekend tasting events, and even added a selection of products to the mini-bar, so Boisson products can always be at your fingertips.?

?INDUSTRY HIGHLIGHTS

It’s gratifying to have received such a warm and positive response, which proves that we’re going in the right direction. We see that the demand for optionality in the beverage industry has recently skyrocketed. The global non-alcoholic drinks market size is expected to reach USD 1.6 trillion by 2025, according to?a new report by Grand View Research, Inc., expanding at a compound annual growth rate of 5.3% over the forecast period.

Another fascinating industry read, the?Bacardi Cocktail Trend Report for 2022, showed a significant rise in sober-curious consumers with 58% globally drinking more non-alcoholic and low-ABV cocktails (NoLo) than just a year ago. With this data we’re more than ever confident that Boisson addressed the right niche, altering the non-alcoholic beverages space in NYC forever.

FUTURE PLANS

We’re lucky to have been working with the best people in the industry to help spread the message and provide wider access to NA options. Over the coming months, we’ll be looking forward to increasing our globally-sourced product offerings and we’ll be launching a content platform to help educate consumers and industry stakeholders on all things non-alcoholic.

We will continue to break the stigma around luxury non-alcoholic drinks and aim to prove that non-alcoholic beverages have arrived—adult?alternatives to traditional alcoholic drinks. We’ll be working hard to enrich the shopping experience by offering more versatile means of buying the product and to bring the Boisson products into on-premise bars and restaurants to let customers drink in the experience and enjoy their favorite drinks in their favorite places.

JUMP ABOARD!

And lastly, some amazing news we’ve been waiting to share – you’re all invited to join Boisson on this fantastic journey! We’re hiring in LA and NY for a variety of corporate and retail positions, the details of which can be found on our website at?https://boisson.nyc/pages/careers. Apply if you think that you have what it takes and come celebrate the Glass Half-Full together!

Cheers,?

— Nicholas Bodkins and Barrie Arnold