Pit Liquor

Pit Liquor is an all-natural super-effective deodorant that happens to be powered by overproof spirits. If this is your first time hearing about us, here are the Cliff's Notes: four years ago as a mom-to-be, Erica Feucht set out to find an all-natural deodorant that would work well, and not harm her or her baby.

Cut to the chase, she couldn’t find one - so her husband, Jason, who is a materials scientist, made one for her. Inspired by the bacteria-killing qualities in hand sanitizer, his formulation used overproof whiskey, a safer, more natural source of alcohol. For the scent component, he combined the spirits with essential oils and teas and Pit Liquor was born.

Since then we’ve built a business. And business is booming.

Our Value Proposition is simple and born from two key problems that we solve in the category.

The combination of ingredients has created a product that people love as much for its efficacy as its scents.

Our customers aren’t just “all-natural” types. The brand pulls in people across the cultural spectrum because of our spirits-base, our name and because, yeah, the stuff works really well.

The whiskey and other spirits in Pit Liquor are there for bacteria-killing, not scent. Like hand sanitizer, the alcohol smell and liquid dissipates quickly. The added arrowroot and herbs provide stink-killing longevity, while the essential oils remain to do the “Ohhh you smell good” stuff.

Our core scented varieties are gender-neutral and each has its own legion of fans. Additionally, we offer two unscented variations for those who want to remain in stealth-mode.

Beyond our core variants, we offer Limited Editions 8-10 times a year. Limiteds are an important component of sales - they currently drive 30% of our business. We can typically double or triple our average daily sales with an email blast to our subscription list announcing new Limiteds or a “last call.” We are continuing to refine our strategy so that we can create even more scarcity and news around these products.

Below the surface, there are key attributes that align with the modern marketplace.

It all adds up to a devoted, uncommonly passionate user base that grows each day. People don’t just like Pit Liquor, they LOVE Pit Liquor. We maintain a VIP board on Facebook and have a specific VIP email and SMS list to remain connected.

The deodorant category has been changing dramatically since COVID. As expected, category sales slowed with people staying at home, but growth is accelerating as things return to normal.

Consumers are becoming more discerning about their choices - P&G quietly announced a recall of Old Spice and Secret sprays because they contained Benzene, a carcinogenic compound. It was yet another catalyst for growing awareness of better-for-you products in the category.

Another trend in our favor - sales of stick deodorants in the U.S. are declining as innovation shifts towards sprays.

Forward-looking projections cannot be guaranteed.

We are well-positioned in the category and have generous margins to drive profit.

What exactly is natural? A number of our competitors claim to be all-natural but include a laundry list of questionable ingredients. Many contain baking soda which in theory is natural, but in practice causes rashes in many users. Part of our job in marketing will be to continue to point out our unique and truly all-natural properties.

Over the last six months, we’ve worked hard to create a more effective marketing mousetrap, adding SMS and other new sales channels, optimizing the site and shoring up the UX for our subscription program. And we’re not done. We have a list of action items ready to go as resources grow.

Our marketing team has taken a sophisticated approach to positioning the brand for future growth. We are benchmarking ourselves against top CPG brands such as Dollar Shave Club and Liquid Death. We will have consistent and targeted brand messaging across all touchpoints to build affinity and enrich the customer experience. We are not only selling a killer product, but doing it in a way that will build loyalty and a cult following.

We are partnering with Noun Ventures to re-design all aspects of our visual identity including our core packaging. Noun’s Founder, Neil Riddell, has created highly successful brands including Angel’s Envy Bourbon which was acquired by Bacardi for $150 million. As always, Neil’s team will start with in-depth research to help uncover powerful consumer and brand truths that the team will use to inform creative output for years to come.

Why WeFunder

We chose WeFunder because we didn’t want to go the VC route. We feel this next step of growth should be shared with customers and smaller investors who share our vision. In short, we believe in democratizing investment. 

We invite you to join us on this journey and participate in the final public offering of equity in Pit Liquor. We are raising our final round at a $7.5M valuation and an early bird discount valuation of $7M.

Our growth timeline remains aggressive but we are pivoting to a more self-sustaining model to eliminate unnecessary risk and eliminate our debt burden. Our favorable margins allow for profitable scaling, and with the addition of this WeFunder investment, the transition will make the company stronger for the long haul. With our last raise, Pit Liquor grew revenue by 50%.

Our Final Raise

Forward-looking projections cannot be guaranteed.

Our next stage of growth will come from focusing in several ways: 

1) We will continue to fund paid media but given the rising CPM's on Facebook and Google, we will increasingly leverage owned channels including subscriptions, SMS, and email lists - all of which grew significantly last year. 

2) We will focus on 2-3 consumer segments and serve them consistently. Whether it's yoga patrons or CrossFitters, we intend to fully immerse ourselves within their communities to understand their needs and speak their language. We will do product sampling events and take their feedback forward into innovation and messaging.

3) We will begin pushing further into wholesale. For a product such as ours, TRYING is believing. Seeing it on the shelf, holding it, & sampling it are proven ways to convert. We are going to put some muscle into getting bottles in hands, especially in Colorado, and model our learnings in new markets. In conjunction with sampling efforts we will localize our paid marketing efforts to feel BIG in key markets with the goal of influencing more retailers to take us on and ensure the success of current partners.

A look-forward

We have the product and vision, and soon we'll have the branding, packaging, and wholesale relationships we need to become a household brand. Our recent momentum shows we are just getting started.

Thanks for tuning in. We hope you will join us in this next phase of growth. Click “Watch for Updates” in the bar to the right to stay in the know.