How do you prefer your tea? Beyond drinking it hot or iced, most people may not have more to say. Looking to change this and innovate a new experience in the tea drinking space is direct-to-consumer brand Tea Drops. The startup is freshly outfitted with $5 million in venture funding thanks to its Series A round announced on Tuesday.
Tea Drops developed a way to compress loose-leaf tea into dissolvable tablets that break down in water, just like a bath bomb in a cup. The tablets come in a wide variety of flavors and styles and are shaped into designs like flowers or stars. The company’s goal is to create a new way to enjoy a tradition that’s been around since ancient times and has seen a diverse array of cultural experiences.
“What I’m trying to do is really modernize it and make it more accessible,” Tea Drops founder and CEO Sashee Chandran told Built In. “It can really be something that’s a self-care moment just for you and there’s no right way [or] wrong way to do it. We’re just trying to make it accessible, easy, fun and convenient.”
With a consumer base that’s 95 percent women, many of whom are employed mothers, Chandran recognizes how much stress and pressure people may currently be undergoing on top of the pandemic. Tea Drops aims to alleviate some of this tension by offering a moment to relax and center oneself during the day.
Alongside developing a new way to enjoy an old art, the company is also focused on creating a more environmentally sustainable alternative to mainstream bagged teas.
“There’s been a lot of reports of bag teas being filled with microplastics or being less eco-friendly or being bleached,” Chandran said. “[Tea Drops] reduces the waste of a tea bag, and also there’s no microplastics involved because there’s no packaging except the tea drop itself.”
The company’s latest round of funding was led by BrandProject and brings Tea Drops’ total capital raised to $8.4 million. It’s planning to invest in creating more self-care experiences like a women’s health hormonal balance tea, and growing more as an omni-channel brand by expanding into retail stores.
In addition to its expansion plans, Tea Drops is looking to hire more talent. Today, the company has a team of 13 employees, all of whom are women. “We’re a women-led team as of now, but we’re obviously open to whoever comes our way,” Chandran said. It’s looking to grow across digital marketing, D2C, operations and retail over the next six months, as well as onboard a head of retention and a developer.
