Clevr Blends

The only way to really get your biz off the ground? Get the Duchess of Sussex on board. It ain’t easy, but one coffee crew managed to catch the eye of Meghan Markle and now, the royal is an investor in their company. Instant latte outfit Clevr kicked off in 2016 and thanks to the duchess, business is going through the roof. The crew dished on their whole story in a recent Instagram Reel.

Co-founder Hannah Mendoza recollected how she and her mates kicked off the super-food latte company with a makeshift coffee bar. “Three years ago, everything changed,” Mendoza spilled before unleashing a clip of Markle sipping their product from a mug. “None other than Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, had started drinking our lattes. Not only did she love the product, but she was extremely passionate about supporting female founders, our sustainable sourcing and our food justice giveback.”

“Meghan ended up becoming our first investor, adviser and biggest Clevr advocate.”

She added, “Meghan ended up becoming our first investor, adviser and biggest Clevr advocate.” At the time of the investment, Markle shared a press release, obtained by People, explaining her involvement. “This investment is in support of a passionate female entrepreneur who prioritizes building community alongside her business,” the statement read. “I’m proud to invest in Hannah’s commitment to sourcing ethical ingredients and creating a product that I personally love and has a holistic approach to wellness. I believe in her and I believe in her company.”

Of course, once the coffee brand had Markle’s stamp of approval, business started booming, especially after Markle gifted a few bags of the holistic-inspired mix to her famous friends, like Oprah Winfrey.

Beloved by the Duchess of Sussex and her pal Oprah (they’re a two-time addition to Oprah’s Favourite Things), the lattes are available in six delicious flavours that include matcha, chai, coffee, golden milk and rose cacao.

All Clevr SuperLattes are 100% vegan, have 500 million heat-safe probiotics, no refined sugar and 1000mg of adaptogens (Ashwagandha, Lion’s Mane and Reishi). Simply add water to the blend of your choice and you’ve got a delicious drink that’s packed with powerful probiotics, adaptogens and superfood ingredients.

Since each bag has enough for 14 lattes, each serving rings in at just $2.71 CAD a cup — a fraction of what a similar beverage would cost at any coffee shop.

According to Forbes, “Meghan reached out to the Clevr team after trying the company’s oat-milk latte product, which debuted through a Santa Barbara pop-up coffee shop in 2017. The Southern California–based business is headquartered near Montecito.”
Lemon perfect:

The Queen B herself, Beyoncé, is turning lemons.. into sweet cash as the latest bigwig investor in Lemon Perfect, the buzzed-about bottled lemon water brand. This multiplatinum-selling sensation doesn’t typically go for drinks without added sugar, but Lemon Perfect has clearly won her over.

“I don’t typically enjoy drinks without added sugar, but Lemon Perfect is delicious,” Beyoncé shared in a statement on the Lemon Perfect website.

Atlanta-based Lemon Perfect was cooked up by none other than Mike Hufnagel.In 2017, Mike Hufnagel, a former college basketball coach at the University of Nevada, Reno, founded Lemon Perfect in Atlanta. The spark of inspiration came from an unexpected encounter with a store owner who aspired to become a coach. The store owner sent Hufnagel a draft of a book he was writing about the Keto diet, which contained recipes for lemon water.

Hufnagel had an epiphany after noticing his basketball players drinking Bai in the locker room. He realized that lemon water had the potential to disrupt the multibillion-dollar enhanced water market, which was expected to grow by almost 9% annually over the next five years. Hufnagel decided to give lemon water the same foundation as Bai and create a new sensation.

The up-and-coming liquid concoction snagged a whopping $31 million from a network of investors spanning food and beverage, media, music, sports, and entertainment, with Beyoncé leading the charge. This massive infusion of capital brings Lemon Perfect’s total funding to $42.2 million and its total valuation to over $100 million in less than three years since its first bottle hit shelves.

So watch out, folks, because Lemon Perfect is clearly taking the world by storm, and with Beyoncé behind it, there’s no telling how far this zesty sensation will go.