Wellness startup DryWater says it is nearing $100 million in sales — a milestone fueled by a string of retail wins over the past two years that landed its hydration powders on shelves at Walmart and Walgreens.
Founder Bryan Appio, 36, told the Business Journal that he expects the Irvine firm’s retail footprint to grow sevenfold as more retailers nationwide stock the Irvine-based firm’s fruit-based powders on shelves.
The growth came quickly.
“We kept growing word of mouth, and it’s just been two years. We haven’t been going to the retailers; they’ve been coming to us,” Appio told the Business Journal.
Getting Into Walmart, Walgreens
Six months after releasing DryWater in 2024, Appio said Walmart approached him to stock the hydration packets nationwide. A Walmart executive had tried the powder sticks himself and recommended the brand as part of the retailer’s initiative to have more “clean” products on shelves, according to Appio.
It’s now sold in more than 1,500 Walmart locations. DryWater later landed another deal with Walgreens last August, placing its powder packets in over 6,000 U.S. stores.
In 2026, DryWater will enter 41,000 more doors thanks to upcoming deals with notable grocery stores and big box brands, including Target, Kroger, CVS and The Vitamin Shoppe.
Backed by venture capital firms such as The Raptor Group and Vanquish Equity, the startup plans to dominate the hydration category, starting with this year’s major retail expansion and an investment in women’s sports.
To keep up with the growing footprint, DryWater moved its headquarters to a 17,900-square-foot space in Irvine at Jamboree Road and Barranca Parkway. Its former office was 3,900 square feet in Newport Beach near John Wayne Airport.
Appio counted 12 people on his team when he started. By June, DryWater expects to have 52 employees with plans to double that headcount by 2027.
“The demand has picked up now where we’ve proven that the customer wants something better, and the product is moving off the shelf in a very big way,” Appio said.
And last year, he became an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 Pacific Southwest Award winner.
“Rooted in science and ingredient transparency, DryWater is disrupting the hydration industry,” EY wrote in Appio’s bio for the award announcement.
Appio wrote on LinkedIn that the acknowledgement came after “19 years of failing, eating sh*t, starting companies.”
“Moments like this show how life rewards action. Feeling good — but now it’s time to get back in the saddle and keep building DryWater into the billion-dollar brand it’s becoming,” Appio wrote.
Creating an Alternative to ‘Salt in a Stick’
Appio said the idea for DryWater stemmed from his own headaches caused by dehydration during the COVID-19 pandemic. His doctor sent him to stores like Whole Foods Market for an electrolyte product that would provide the nutrients he needed to better retain water, but none were as helpful as he wanted.
Appio said he only felt good for a short time before crashing again: “Basically, I checked the little label, and it’s just all sugar. It was just sugar or salt in a stick.”
He decided to study nutrition online and wrote down the ingredients he wanted to use, a list of electrolytes and vitamins with fruit that became DryWater.
The 11-gram sticks each contain six key electrolytes, one amino acid and five essential vitamins with minerals and glycine. The ingredients and fruit come from all over—dehydrated raspberries and lemons from Canada, and Vitamin C from Florida—and are blended and packaged at its facilities in California before being shipped to its new spot Irvine.
Appio added that the powder has been third-party tested and recently earned NSF Certified for Sport, an independent certification in sports nutrition.
Appio first sold the hydration powder online and said he built a customer base by communicating with potential buyers on Instagram, handing out samples in person at trade shows, and showing up at local 6 a.m. run clubs.
“In this market, Orange County, it is the perfect launch pad for a business like DryWater. People care about their health,” he said. “Location did really matter for success.”
After entering Walmart stores, Appio knew he would need more funding to further the brand’s retail footprint.
“This business is very capital intensive, where you have to make the goods, you have to get them tested, and you put a lot of money in inventory,” Appio said.
DryWater raised capital in September 2025, led by firms such as Raptor Group and Vanquish Equity, according to PitchBook. Led by Founder Jim Pallotta, former chairman of AS Roma and previous co-owner of the Boston Celtics, Raptor’s past investments include Airbnb, Uber and Spotify. Vanquish counts brands such as Supergut and Recess in its current portfolio, along with DryWater.
Appio declined to reveal the amount raised.
The funding went toward the startup’s retail efforts, and since then, DryWater packets have entered Walgreens, adding 6,000 more doors beyond the initial 1,500 at Walmart.
Appio explained that retail became the best strategy to get DryWater to customers more cheaply and quickly than online. The business can also offer smaller pack sizes of the hydration sticks in stores.
“We needed a retailer in every major city, who has the biggest reach, and Walgreens happened to have the most, and the best, locations in the areas where we can get it to customers same day,” Appio said.
The firm is planning another funding round in the next few months. DryWater entering stores such as Target, CVS and Kroger in the coming weeks.
“Data points are getting other retailers to say, ‘Alright, we want to make a bigger bet on this brand,’” Appio said. “When we come on shelf, the value proposition is very clear for the buyer to understand and why we’re going to win in retail.”
Betting on Women’s Sports
DryWater is also looking to capture growth by partnering with women’s sports teams.
“When we launched the business, our demographic was predominantly female, head of household, and we weren’t really in sports yet,” Appio said.
The brand mostly resonates with female consumers, Appio added, which is why it is investing in women’s sports. He noted that demand was coming from both athlete investors and college players.
Appio’s goal is to take over the sports industry, which he said is currently locked up by Gatorade.
“We want to come in as the clean guys, better for you,” he added.
Applying for NSF for Certified Sport status was a move to gain footing in the sports world, recommended to Appio by players, athletic directors and trainers from pro sports and collegiate teams, such as the New York Yankees and San Diego State University.
DryWater’s first big bet was on the all-new women’s volleyball league called League One Volleyball (LOVB).
Formed in 2025, LOVB is currently in its second season and includes a network of Olympic players, NCAA champions and a youth club of more than 25,000 athletes across 2,000 teams in 28 states. DryWater partnered with the organization last November, and its logo will be featured on all jerseys.
“Women’s sports deserve this stage, and LOVB’s athletes are powerful role models for the next generation. Hydration is performance, and this partnership helps us put that message front and center,” Appio said in a statement.
DryWater is working with WNBA players such as Seattle Storm’s Erica Wheeler and is looking to break into women’s lacrosse and tennis as well. Ali Riley, former defender of Angel City Football Club, is also a brand ambassador.
Betting on Natural Products Expo West
2025 was DryWater’s first time exhibiting at Anaheim’s annual Natural Products Expo West, which draws more than 60,000 people.
Appio said the trade show probably saved the startup.
Natural Products offers a 30% discount to new brands who attend, so Appio said he emptied the company’s bank account— about $75,000 — and invested in a trade show booth.
“I had to land retailers. I had to sell,” he said.
The founder landed the deal with Walgreens, which expanded DryWater to over 6,000 U.S. stores, and began talks with other major retailers that will be revealed this year when the hydration powder arrives on their shelves. The startup also received a purchase order from TJ Maxx.
“This trade show has built our business,” Appio said. “But it wouldn’t have worked if we didn’t show up.”
At this year’s show, DryWater tripled the size of its booth and ordered a custom lit-up display with arches that attendees could walk through and built-in drink fountains that served water mixed with each of its flavors—including the latest edition, green apple.
“We wanted to stand out,” Appio said. “We have all of our retailers lined up. What we now need is more consumers.”
Founder and Entrepreneur, Not Investor
DryWater’s founder Bryan Appio said his experience of creating his startup’s hydration powder was most similar to his very first venture, 1-800-Bartend.
He founded the hospitality company in New York when he was 18. It trained bartenders and staffed them for events. It marked a pivot away from his finance degree and a planned career as an accountant.
“We controlled the gig economy,” he told the Business Journal. “Basically, all the Costco tasting people, all the Red Bull girls— all of our staff and bartenders that we were training were being placed in these areas.”
Appio left the company about seven years later, moved to California, and, with his earnings, went on to invest in a few consumer-packaged goods firms, e-commerce brands and even an electric vehicle company.
However, Appio also learned that investing wasn’t his game. He eventually lost the money he had contributed, and then the pandemic hit.
Appio said he went back to his entrepreneurial roots and found he was much better at coming up with new ideas, such as DryWater.
“I’ve done hospitality, I’ve done mixology, and DryWater is a combination of ingredients. I know what tastes good,” he said.
Additionally, the founder hopes he can build generational wealth with DryWater. His brother Sean Appio left Irvine’s Rivian Automotive to work for him, his best friend Eric Malvin runs things out of New York and he’s been able to help his mother Jacqueline Appio retire early.
“I’m a founder, not an investor,” Appio said with a laugh. If you put “money back into me, my brands will grow all day long.”
