Olipop is owned by OLIPOP INC., a private Oakland, California company that has no corporate parent as of September 2026. Co-founders Ben Goodwin and David Lester both still sit on its board, alongside outside investors from four funding rounds. Its closest competitor, Poppi, sold to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion in May 2025. Olipop did not sell.
The interesting part is not the headline. It is that Olipop's own SEC filings tell a different story about how much money it has taken than the press releases do.
Key takeaways
- Olipop is independent. No parent company, no acquisition, no public listing. It is a private company incorporated as OLIPOP INC. and headquartered in Oakland, California.
- Both founders remain on the board. The February 2025 Form D lists Charles Bennett Goodwin as an executive officer and director and David Matthew Lester as a director, seven years after the first raise.
- Olipop has raised $240,820,696 across four Reg D offerings, per its own SEC Form D filings. That is the sum of every round, and it is a figure I have not seen reported anywhere.
- The Series C was reported as "$50 million." The Form D says $187,899,533 sold, to 78 investors, with the first sale on December 19, 2024. The gap is the most interesting number in this story.
- Poppi sold to PepsiCo on May 19, 2025 for $1.95 billion including $300 million of anticipated cash tax benefits, a net $1.65 billion, plus a performance earnout.
- Olipop was valued at $1.85 billion in the round reported in February 2025, roughly the same neighbourhood as what PepsiCo paid for Poppi three months later.
- No filing discloses Olipop's cap table. "Founder-owned" is the common description, and the founders are certainly still in control of the board, but the precise equity split is not public.
This article is based on primary sources: OLIPOP INC.'s four Form D filings with the SEC under CIK 0001754003 (filed October 19, 2018; February 26, 2020; February 10, 2022; and March 3, 2025), which disclose the amounts raised, the number of investors, and the executive officers and directors at each round; and PepsiCo, Inc.'s press release of May 19, 2025 announcing completion of its poppi acquisition. Private companies do not file cap tables, so where I estimate or rely on reporting I say so. Full source list at the bottom.
Who owns Olipop right now?
OLIPOP INC. is privately held. There is no parent company above it and no ticker.
Ownership is split between the two founders and the investors who bought in across four rounds since 2018. The SEC filings do not disclose percentages, but they do disclose who was in the room, which is the next best thing.
| Round, per Form D | Officers and directors named |
|---|---|
| 2018 seed | David Matthew Lester, Charles Bennett Goodwin. Nobody else |
| 2020 Series A | Lester, Goodwin, plus Patrick Finn as director |
| 2022 Series B | Lester, Goodwin, plus Jared Stein as director |
| 2025 Series C | Goodwin (executive officer and director), Lester (director), Jared Stein, Christopher Dawe, plus Tracy Hart and Melvin Landis as executive officers |
Read that column downward and you can see a company professionalising without changing hands. The 2018 filing is two founders and nothing else. The 2025 filing has a chief financial officer signing it (Tracy Hart) and a separate senior executive (Melvin Landis, reported to have joined as president from Coca-Cola and Clorox), and it still has both founders on the board.
That is what independence looks like in filings: outside directors accumulate, outside executives arrive, and the founders stay.
Reported lead investors across the rounds include J.P. Morgan's growth equity arm, Monogram Capital Partners and Melitas Ventures, along with a well-publicised roster of celebrity backers. Those are press-reported, not filing-disclosed, so treat them accordingly.
The founders
Ben Goodwin (Charles Bennett Goodwin in the filings) and David Lester founded Olipop in 2018 and launched with prebiotic sodas built around fibre and plant ingredients rather than the diet-soda framing.
It was their second attempt at the category. Their earlier probiotic soda brand did not survive, and Olipop was the rebuilt version of the same thesis. Goodwin remains chief executive. Lester moved from president, the title he signed the first three Form Ds under, to a board and advisory role by the 2025 filing, where the chief financial officer signs instead.
Funding history: what the filings actually show
This is the part worth the click, because the reported numbers and the filed numbers do not match.
| Form D filed | First sale | Amount sold | Investors | Signed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 19, 2018 | September 10, 2018 | $100,000 | 8 | David Lester, President |
| February 26, 2020 | January 24, 2020 | $13,037,338 | 39 | David Lester, President |
| February 10, 2022 | October 13, 2021 | $39,783,825 | 60 | David Matthew Lester, President |
| March 3, 2025 | December 19, 2024 | $187,899,533 | 78 | Tracy Hart, Chief Financial Officer |
| Total | $240,820,696 |
Two things stand out.
The Series C is far bigger in the filing than in the coverage. The round was widely reported as $50 million at a $1.85 billion valuation. The Form D reports $187,899,533 sold with nothing remaining. A Form D reports the total sold in an offering, which can include secondary sales by existing shareholders as well as new money into the company, and it can cover tranches sold over more than one date. So the two figures are not necessarily contradictory: the most likely reading is that roughly $50 million was new primary capital and the balance was existing holders selling shares. Olipop has not broken this out, so I am flagging the gap rather than resolving it.
The first sale predates the announcement by more than two months. The Form D records the first sale on December 19, 2024, and the round was announced in February 2025. That is ordinary practice, but it means the deal was done before Poppi's sale to PepsiCo was public.
The $100,000 seed round with eight investors in 2018 is the other detail worth sitting with. Seven years and $240 million later, the same two people are on the board.
Its rival sold. Olipop did not.
Prebiotic soda went from a niche to a battlefield in about eighteen months, and the two leading independents took opposite exits.
| Olipop | Poppi | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2018 | 2020 (as Poppi; earlier as Mother Beverage) |
| Status as of September 2026 | Independent, private | Owned by PepsiCo, Inc. |
| Key event | $1.85 billion valuation, round announced February 2025 | Acquired for $1.95 billion, completed May 19, 2025 |
| Net consideration | Not applicable | $1.65 billion after $300 million of anticipated cash tax benefits, plus a performance earnout |
| Who controls it | Founder-led board | PepsiCo Beverages U.S. |
The valuations are the striking part. Olipop's reported $1.85 billion mark and PepsiCo's $1.95 billion purchase price are within about 5% of each other, agreed within three months. One founder group took the cash. The other kept the company.
Coca-Cola, meanwhile, did not buy either. It launched its own prebiotic entry, Simply Pop, in early 2025. So the category now runs as an independent, a PepsiCo brand, and a Coca-Cola brand, which is an unusually clean natural experiment in whether staying independent pays.
What changed in the last 18 months
Re-checked in September 2026: Olipop has announced no new funding round, no change to its $1.85 billion valuation, and no sale since the February 2025 Series C. It remains a private, founder-led company with no corporate parent (verified September 2026).
- December 19, 2024: first sale in the offering that became the Series C.
- February 2025: Olipop announces the round at a $1.85 billion valuation.
- March 3, 2025: Form D filed, disclosing $187,899,533 sold to 78 investors.
- March 2025: PepsiCo announces its agreement to acquire Poppi.
- May 19, 2025: PepsiCo completes the Poppi acquisition.
- 2025: Melvin Landis appointed president, reported from Coca-Cola and Clorox; David Lester moves to an advisory and board role.
- Through August 2026: no further Form D, no acquisition filing, no announced sale. Olipop's last SEC filing remains the March 2025 Form D.
That last line is the most load-bearing fact in this article. The absence of filings is evidence: an acquisition of a company this size by a public acquirer would leave a paper trail, and there is not one.
So who really owns Olipop?
Two founders, a group of venture and growth investors, and nobody else. No strategic parent, no controlling corporate shareholder, no public float.
The honest caveat: "founder-owned" is how this is usually described, and after four rounds and roughly $241 million raised, the founders' combined stake is certainly smaller than it was in 2018. Reporting describes Goodwin as the largest individual shareholder with a double-digit percentage, which I cannot verify against a filing. What the filings do prove is control: both founders sat on the board at the most recent round, and no acquirer sits above them.
FAQ
Is Olipop owned by Coca-Cola or PepsiCo?
No. PepsiCo bought Poppi, a different brand, in May 2025. Coca-Cola launched its own brand, Simply Pop. Olipop has no corporate parent.
Did Olipop get bought?
No. As of August 2026 there is no announced acquisition and no SEC filing indicating one.
Who is the CEO of Olipop?
Ben Goodwin, who co-founded it and is listed as an executive officer and director in the 2025 Form D.
How much is Olipop worth?
It was valued at $1.85 billion in the round announced in February 2025. Private valuations are set by the terms of a specific round, not by a market, so treat that as a point in time.
How much money has Olipop raised?
$240,820,696 across four Reg D offerings, per its own Form D filings from 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2025.
Is Olipop going public?
No filing indicates it. There is no S-1 on record.
What I'm watching next
A fifth Form D. Another round would show whether the company is funding growth or preparing for an exit, and who joins the board with it.
Any registration statement. An S-1 would settle the ownership question completely, because the prospectus would publish the cap table.
Whether Poppi's performance earnout gets discussed. PepsiCo disclosed a performance-based earnout. How that plays out is the clearest public read on whether selling was the better decision.
Sources
1. Form D, OLIPOP INC., filed March 3, 2025 (first sale December 19, 2024): SEC EDGAR filings for CIK 0001754003. Establishes $187,899,533 sold to 78 investors, the Rule 506(b) exemption, and the officers and directors including Charles Bennett Goodwin, David Matthew Lester, Jared Stein, Christopher Dawe, Tracy Hart and Melvin Landis.
2. Form D, OLIPOP INC., filed February 10, 2022: SEC EDGAR. Establishes $39,783,825 sold to 60 investors and the board at that round.
3. Form D, OLIPOP INC., filed February 26, 2020: SEC EDGAR. Establishes $13,037,338 sold to 39 investors.
4. Form D, OLIPOP INC., filed October 19, 2018: SEC EDGAR. Establishes the $100,000 seed round with 8 investors and the two founders as the only officers and directors.
5. PepsiCo, Inc. press release, May 19, 2025: PepsiCo completes acquisition of poppi. Establishes the $1.95 billion price, the $300 million of anticipated cash tax benefits, the $1.65 billion net figure, and the performance-based earnout.