YATE (pronounced ya-tay) is a sparkling yerba mate for social occasions. Our products are made with mixologist-crafted flavors, 100% organic yerba mate, and no added caffeine.

We’re taking on the $50B functional beverage and $16B energy drink US markets to offer a social, better-for-you alternative to the ‘crunchy granola’ wellness brands found on shelves today.

YATE is your new favorite +1 for days and nights out because healthy shouldn’t be boring. YATE was born in the LA music scene, and we’re proudly produced locally using all natural ingredients. 

WHAT IS YERBA MATE?

Originally consumed in South America during ancient communal gatherings, yerba mate is an unexpectedly healthy pick-me-up making its way out of the Amazonian rainforests and into discos, house parties, and every social setting in between. 

Yerba mate is a favorite among athletes like Lionel Messi and rock stars such as James Hetfield for its super-plant benefits - resulting in an energizing productivity boost with no crash. This is due to the combination of caffeine (energy), theobromine (euphoria), and theophylline (focus) naturally derived from the leaf. In Germany, yerba mate has also been a staple energy drink of choice for club goers since the 90s and this cultural niche is making its way out of Berlin and into nightlife scenes around the world.

WHY DID WE CREATE YATE?

We grind all day and want to dance all night. So once PM hits, we need something (anything!) to keep us going. But we don’t like most energy options. You know, the stuff that’s loaded with sugar, is made of ingredients you can’t pronounce, and causes a hard crash or jitters.

We scanned the aisles of supermarkets, and found fitness, sports, and crunchy-granola wellness drinks, but we realized none are the perfect companion for a night out. That’s why we created YATE, a naturally delicious twist on tea that gives you a clean boost of energy so you can go get Social by Nature™.

The yerba mate market is $2bn and growing, however brands are all targeting the same 'healthy lifestyle', outdoorsy and fitness consumers. This has led to homogeneous packaging design and current shelves are filled with bright color gradients, ombres, and buzz words that are all just variations of “healthy”. 

We get to disrupt several huge markets, while concurrently creating our own, SOCIAL ENERGY. Herein lies the opportunity to build an irreverent brand, delivering on health benefits, but most importantly, connecting with customers on a personal level. This is why we have prioritized YATE’s brand building in nightlife occasions where we can enhance the social environment and have fun with our customers. We love music and being with friends and we want to be healthy too, which makes YATE the perfect +1 for a boost of energy or as a tasty mixer.

YATE not only stands out from the crowd on grocery store shelves and behind the bars of your favorite venues with our bold, black packaging, but we also have competitive advantages from a nutritional perspective. Our tribe wants these benefits, and we deliver with a brand that also resonates with them personally.

OUR COMMUNITY IS WHY WE EXIST

We've cultivated a network of music industry/musician partnerships to help us reach our core tribe, and these partners will be influential in expanding our awareness as our distribution grows, moving forward.

After 16 months of rigorously testing our product formulas, pack size, and designs in core bar, night club, and grocery channels, we're confident that our current product iteration will continue to accelerate YATE’s growth and our recent traction bears the fruits of this process.

We've built significant traction in the nightlife scene where we're currently sold in 20+ key bar and nightclub accounts with top accounts averaging 200+ cans per month. Notable accounts in LA include Catch One, Aviator Nation, The Echo + EchoPlex, and Silverlake Lounge and notable accounts in Brooklyn include Public Records, SILO, and Superior Ingredients.

In off-premise (retail channels), we've launched in all SoCal BevMo/GoPuff locations (90+ doors) and independent grocery chains such as Lassen’s Natural Food and Vitamin with early sales trends hitting +6 cans per flavor per week in top stores. 

Forward-looking projections are not guaranteed.

Our 5 year projections are based on 1) increasing points of distribution across off and on-premise accounts in LA & NYC 2) increasing sales velocity within those accounts 3) expanding geographies and onboarding new distribution partners. Margin improvements are contingent on reducing our COGS via formula optimization and improved economies of scale for our productions.

WHY ARE WE RAISING MONEY?

We are thrilled to include our community in this funding round that will allow us to expand on the strong foundation we’ve built. 

We intend to use the additional funds to expand distribution, hire a supporting sales team, launch our third flavor (very stoked on this), and work towards enhancing our margins. 

We’re committed to going deeper and not wider, by focusing on building in SoCal while maintaining our nightlife presence in NYC. We’re playing the long game and want to avoid overextending ourselves like many brands do when they launch too quickly into new markets. 

We are a team of founders with 20+ years of combined experience at emerging and established CPG brands. On top of that, we love music, nightlife, and having a good time, and we’ve experienced first hand the need for a fun, social energy option when we’re trying to let loose. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and neither should your energy drink. 

Look - we’ll be the first to tell you that starting a beverage company is hard, back-breaking work, but we’re dreamers, and we like to swing for the fences. If we’re successful in achieving our vision, there is lots of money to be made, and we’d love to have our supporters join us in reaping those benefits!