Canned water startup Liquid Death in talks to raise as much as $10M

Liquid Death, a canned water startup that went viral for its punk-style imagery is in talks to raise up to $10 million in Series A funding, a source told Business Insider.

The funding talks were first reported by Axios and later confirmed to Business Insider by a source with knowledge of the deal.

Liquid Death founder and CEO Mike Cessario is meeting with interested investors but talks are still in early stages.

Liquid Death announced $1.6 million in seed funding in May with backing from Science Inc., Dollar Shave Club's founder and CEO, Michael Dubin; the Twitter cofounder Biz Stone; and Jen Rubio, the cofounder of the buzzy luggage startup Away. Cessario has raised $2.25 million for Liquid Death to date.

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Liquid Death, a canned water startup that went viral for its punk-style imagery and aggressively metal cartoon commercials, is in talks to raise as much as $10 million in Series A funding just two months after taking the internet by storm with $1.6 million in seed funding.

Axios reported earlier on Wednesday that the company was in fundraising talks, pegging the amount at $10 million. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the fundraising talks to Business Insider, but stressed that the talks were still in early stages and that the size and terms of the deal could change.

Liquid Death founder and CEO Mike Cessario is meeting with interested investors but has yet to sign a term sheet, according to the source. It could not be learned who the investors are.

Cessario did not immediately return a request for comment.

Liquid Death announced $1.6 million in Seed funding in May with backing from Science Inc., Dollar Shave Club's founder and CEO, Michael Dubin; the Twitter cofounder Biz Stone; and Jen Rubio, the cofounder of the buzzy luggage startup Away. Cessario has raised $2.25 million for Liquid Death to date.

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Cessario, a former Netflix creative director, embraced the debate on Twitter following May's funding announcement. Supporters were in favor of the tallboy cans' eco-friendly materials, but detractors were concerned about the overly “macho” branding and wondered aloud on Twitter whether Liquid Death represented everything wrong with venture capital.

Update: After this article was published, the source clarified to Business Insider that the “target” size for the funding round was $10 million, and that their earlier comment about the funding potentially reaching $20 million was a miscommunication on their part.