A Huntington Beach-based bottled water startup has lured a big backer and cheerleader: Mark Wahlberg.
Wahlberg, an actor, executive producer and onetime pop star, joined AquaHydrate Inc. as an investor and director in 2008.
He came across AquaHydrate’s water while training for a movie.
“I decided I needed to be part of this company,” Wahlberg said. “I didn’t want to be the face of the company. I wanted to be a partner, and they were nice enough to allow me in.”
Of course, AquaHydrate would be missing out if it didn’t play up its Wahlberg tie. He’s ended up becoming an unofficial spokesman and promoter through his Hollywood connections.
“Mark really believes in the product,” said Steven Fisher, AquaHydrate’s chief executive. “He hasn’t endorsed anything since Calvin Klein.”
Director Fisher
Wahlberg also is involved in the direction of the company. AquaHydrate recently brought on new directors, including Fisher, a New York construction guru and longtime friend of Wahlberg’s.
Fisher previously ran New York’s Plaza Construction Corp., part of New York-based Fisher Brothers, a family construction management and general contracting company with $1.4 billion in yearly revenue.
“I’m not a beverage guy,” Fisher said. “But I’m learning real fast.”
Wahlberg approached Fisher about investing in the company in late 2008. Then he was encouraged to join the board and ended up becoming chairman.
“I felt there needed to be a little repositioning of the board,” Fisher said.
Chief Financial Officer Mark Loeffler and Matthew Howison, an Australian investment banker with Sydney’s Emerald Partners, joined as directors.
AquaHydrate is part of the “value-added” sector of the bottled water market. It’s a niche that accounts for about 10% of the $15 billion yearly market, which is dominated by plain, noncarbonated waters.
The company began in 2006 with Richard Berry and Troy Beers in Utah before moving to Huntington Beach in 2007.
Wahlberg joined a year later after having the water during his 10-hour training sessions for “The Fighter,” a movie about boxer “Irish” Micky Ward.
“My recovery time changed drastically and I started performing and training at a level better than actual boxers and athletes I was training with,” Wahlberg said.
AquaHydrate takes local tap water and removes it of contaminants known as total dissolved solids to a level of 0.4 parts per million.
The Environmental Protection Authority’s allowable level of total dissolved solids is 500 parts per million.
AquaHydrate then adds trace elements, electrolytes and other minerals. The trace elements come from Utah’s Trace Minerals Research Inc. with minerals from Utah’s Great Salt Lake.
The Huntington Beach headquarters treats and bottles the water. It employs about 40 workers. The company has another office in Florida.
AquaHydrate’s main competition is Coca-Cola Co.’s Smartwater, which sells bottled water enhanced with electrolytes.
Up to now, AquaHydrate has focused on selling through specialty stores. Its sells a half-liter bottle for 99 cents and a liter for $1.99.
AquaHydrate declined to disclose sales. The Business Journal estimates the company at about $2 million in annual revenue.
Promotion
The company’s water has received most of its publicity from Wahlberg, who has pushed the product on TV’s “Entourage,” where he’s an executive producer.
Wahlberg recently played himself in a cameo in which he urges “Entourage” lead character Vincent Chase to forget tequila and instead invest in AquaHydrate.
The water also was in scenes from “The Good Guys” movie with Wahlberg and Will Ferrell.
On “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Wahlberg and rapper P. Diddy plugged the water from an IndyCar covered in AquaHydrate logos.
Wahlberg also appears in a YouTube commercial aimed at athletes.
“Mark has been terrific in helping (get) the product into the market,” Fisher said.
The company, which faces a long haul in a crowded market, eventually could seek to go public, according to executives and directors.
Howison was brought on for his ability to raise money and experience advising companies through initial public offerings.
He started Emerald Partners in 2004 with interests in minerals, oil and energy. Emerald was attracted to AquaHydrate because of Wahlberg and a desire to diversify its investments.
“We saw AquaHydrate as a potentially exciting IPO opportunity,” Howison said. n
