Brita snaps up smart water bottle startup Larq

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Smart water bottle maker Larq announced this week that it has been acquired by filtration giant Brita. Specifically, Brita GmbH, the German company founded in 1966, which split and sold its North/South American branch to Clorox in 1988.

Brita GmbH maintains the brand in the rest of the world, but is currently prohibited from selling products under its own brand in the Americas. Among other things, this acquisition provides the company with a clear re-entry point into the legacy market under an existing – albeit little-known – brand.

Bay Area-based Larq, which was founded in late 2017, is best known for its line of smart water bottles, which use a UV light built into the cap to reduce bacteria that builds up inside of the dark and damp object. The company has since expanded to a water pitcher, which combines UV light with standard water filtration more in line with what we’ve come to expect from Brita.

“They wanted to expand again in North America on the B2C side,” founder and CEO of Larq. Justin Wang tells TechCrunch. “Larq provided a natural extension, geographically. But also, from a premiumization and digital transformation point of view, this activity is traditionally 70 to 80% offline. They are undergoing a major digital transformation and we are the exact opposite. For us, 70 to 80% is online.

Larq’s retail footprint is modest, with its products available in approximately 1,000 physical stores. Although it currently has no presence in the United States, Brita GmbH has both a considerable international market presence and the type of retail expertise that allows it to get its foot in the door . Larq, meanwhile, would spearhead online sales efforts.

Brita US (Clorox) will remain the elephant in this specific room for the foreseeable future, but the company’s former parent company is preparing for an interesting battle, one in which it can’t use its own ubiquitous name.

Wang believes, however, that both Larq and its new parent company have the edge in terms of innovation.

“I think Clorox is basically running this business more like a cash cow,” he says. “That’s what they do. Clorox acquires companies, expands its presence on store shelves, and squeezes every dollar it can out of them. Germany is more dependent on innovative filters and their business models.

Larq will maintain its current product portfolio, while seeking to expand its offering to combine its technology with Brita. This will likely mean continuing to focus on things like app connectivity and hydration tracking.

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