PREPD, a new hydration-boosting drink shaking up the sports nutrition market, is seeking a $A2 million capital injection to expand and grow market share.
Preserve Health Pty Ltd, a Flinders University spinout which developed the new PREPD range, aims to raise $2 million in Series A capital to fund the growth and commercial roll-out of PREPD nationally, to launch a new powder product range, and move towards future global expansion.
SA-based Preserve Health raised $500,000 in seed capital last year before launching PREPD to market in November 2018, and the drink met with swift acceptance in the marketplace. Sales leapt 134% over the hot month of January 2019 and is receiving consistently positive consumer feedback.
Preserve Health CEO David Vincent says the company is now seeking Series A capital funding to position the company to realise the drink’s full potential on the world stage.
“While there are many sports drinks on the market, PREPD is completely different and really sits in a new sub-category of its own,” Mr Vincent says.
“The hydration enhancing benefits of PREPD arguably represents the biggest advance since sports drinks were invented more than fifty years ago. With no direct competitors, we have a global vision for PREPD and the potential is enormous.”
Mr Vincent says Preserve Health has a full Information Memorandum available to investors under non-disclosure agreement – via the website prepdhydration.com.au - and is taking expressions of interest by email until 5 April 2019.
Backed by more than 20 years of research conducted at Flinders University and Yale University, PREPD has won attention for challenging the notion that sports drinks alone are adequate for athlete hydration.
Fluid loss of more than 2% body weight from dehydration is common in most popular sports, which can reduce performance by up to 30%.
“PREPD is not a replacement for sports drinks, but actually makes them work more effectively,” says Mr Vincent.
“PREPD is a two-step hydration enhancer consumed 6-18 hours before, and then immediately after exertion, and is designed to boost the absorption of any electrolyte drink or water, helping athletes perform at their peak longer.”
PREPD works by using proprietary resistant starch formulations, which triggers hydration in the gut. Co-inventor Professor Graeme Young from Flinders University explains: “While the human body can’t store water in reserve, the unique resistant starch in PREPD unlocks the largely unused hydration potential of the large intestine to absorb up to 5 litres of fluid per day.”
Clinical trial results published last year showed a dramatic hydration boost with AFL players using PREPD compared with consuming leading sports drinks only.
Since launching in November, PREPD has been used behind closed doors over summer by elite level cricketers, footballers, supercar and UCI Pro cyclists during the Tour Down Under.
Consumers and elite athletes alike report experiencing the significant hydration difference with PREPD from the first use.
PREPD ambassador Tim Reed, 2016 Ironman 70.3 world champion, says: “The first time I used PREPD I performed significantly better in my controlled sub maximal cycling tests. I didn’t quite believe the improvement so I retested many times over two months until there could be no doubt whatsoever that the hydration enhancing effects of PREPD are very real and was absolutely improving my performance.”
PREPD is sold online at www.prepdhydration.com.au, and is also stocked in 25 specialty sport retailers mainly in South Australia and also in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.
