Dirty Lemon is a New York-based functional beverage brand founded in 2015 by Zak Normandin and Sommer Carroll. The brand sells lemonade-based wellness drinks infused with functional ingredients such as collagen, charcoal, matcha, turmeric, rose, ginseng, and CBD. Dirty Lemon pioneered a conversational commerce model in which approximately 90% of customer orders were placed via SMS text message, operated through its parent company Iris Nova's proprietary text-based ordering platform. The brand became known for viral Instagram-driven marketing among millennial consumers and operated a cashierless honor-system retail store called The Drug Store in New York City. In December 2018, Coca-Cola's Venturing and Emerging Brands (VEB) unit led a $15 million investment round in parent company Iris Nova, alongside Alex Rodriguez, Kate Hudson, and other strategic investors. Iris Nova subsequently announced plans to use its SMS platform to fund and distribute third-party beverage brands. Following severe pandemic-related disruptions to its retail and wholesale operations, Iris Nova cut its workforce by approximately half in 2020 and ultimately ceased operations in 2022.
Dirty Lemon has been acquired
This company is no longer available on our private secondary market.
Company data and valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.
Founded
2015
Employees
11–50
Total Funding
$15M
1 rounds
Total raised $15M across 1 rounds
Funding data and valuation marks are estimates and may be incomplete, stale, erroneous, or revised.
Last updated 06-25-2026
Latest Round
Type
Seed
Date
December 2018
Amount
$15M
Valuation
—
Lead Investors
Zak Normandin
Co-Founder & CEO (Iris Nova / Dirty Lemon)
Sommer Carroll
Co-Founder
Competitor list is illustrative and may be incomplete, stale, or erroneous.
Hint Water
Direct-to-consumer flavored water brand and one of the original D2C beverage disruptors, competing on functional/wellness positioning in unsweetened category.
Vital Proteins
Collagen-focused wellness and functional supplement/beverage brand; overlapping ingredient positioning with Dirty Lemon's collagen line. Acquired by Nestle in 2020.
Recess
Functional sparkling beverage brand infused with CBD and adaptogens, targeting similar millennial/wellness D2C demographic.
Health-Ade Kombucha
Functional fermented beverage brand competing in the wellness drinks space with similar premium positioning.
Sakara Life
D2C wellness brand selling functional foods, beverages, and supplements directly to consumers, overlapping with Dirty Lemon's wellness positioning.
Poppi
Functional prebiotic soda brand with strong D2C and social-media driven growth. Acquired by PepsiCo in 2025.
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