Can Kim Kardashian help an energy drink break through a crowded market? |
Throughout Kim Kardashian’s two-decade career in the public eye, the reality TV star’s entrepreneurial endeavors have included shapewear clothing brand Skims, makeup brand KKW Beauty, cofounding a private equity firm, and a super popular mobile game.
But with her latest venture, Kardashian is stretching her mogul credentials into beverages, which has been familiar terrain for celebrities. She has become a “cofounder” of the energy drink company called Update. Though the startup has existed for four years—meaning Kardashian wasn’t a day-one founder—Update’s CEO and cofounder Daniel Solomons tells Fast Company that she has been a steady customer since 2023 and two years ago, began to offer feedback on the brand’s formula and packaging.
Update isn’t disclosing if Kardashian took an equity stake in the brand as part of her appointment as a cofounder, though Solomons says that “she genuinely loved how the product made her feel.”
On Tuesday the upstart energy drink also announced a 4,000 store distribution deal with Walmart that begins on March 1. Before the Walmart deal, Update was primarily sold through direct-to-consumer channels, and Solomons noticed on his Shopify account that especially large orders were being placed by Kardashian’s team. He was able to reach out to her through mutual connections.
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Daniel Solomons [Photo: Update]
“That organically just turned into a situation where she was really excited to get involved, reached out, and wanted to partner up and formalize it,” says Solomons. “I’m really bullish about the growth of the category and how we can add to that.”
REBRANDING THE ‘TECH BRO’ ENERGY
Solomons says Kardashian helped advise on Update’s new packaging and product formulation. Solomons says the startup’s initial labeling was too “masculine, tech bro” and Update wanted to aspire to a design that’s more gender neutral.
The relaunched portfolio adds new grape and pineapple flavors and Update made tweaks to the berry, peach, and mandarin flavors, a process called reformulation. It is especially common for food and beverage startups to reformulate after they debut when they are able to get in-market consumer feedback. Solomons says the changes were intended to make the beverages “more true to fruit,” meaning as close to the real taste profile of, say, an actual pineapple.
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