Poppi founder launches hydration startup Jetty
Allison Ellsworth, founder of the prebiotic soda brand Poppi, is launching a new hydration startup called Jetty. The company aims to provide everyday hydration products for non-athletes, positioning itself as a more natural alternative to traditional sports drinks.
Why it matters
Illustrates the trend of serial entrepreneurship in the consumer packaged goods sector and the expansion of the functional beverage market.
After selling her first company, prebiotic soda brand Poppi, to PepsiCo for nearly $2 billion in May 2025 , Allison Ellsworth finally got to take time off.
"I went to the doctor for the first time in 10 years and started working out," says Ellsworth, 38. The sale, which included a three-year advisory agreement for Ellsworth, gave her more time to focus on her health. She golfed, went on a GLP-1 and spent more time with friends and family, she says.
But just like in Poppi's earliest days, she avoided a fundamental human need: drinking water, she says. So her husband Stephen Ellsworth — Poppi's former CEO, who teased her about never being hydrated — asked a former employee to concoct a hydration beverage that his family would actually drink.
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