Poppi’s cofounder pitched her startup on Shark Tank while 9 months pregnant and landed a $400,000 deal—now it’s worth $2 billion

When Poppi cofounder Allison Ellsworth pitched her business with her husband on Shark Tank in 2018, she was nervous, excited—and about to have a baby.

“I was nine months pregnant, so there was the ‘Hey, don’t go into labor on national TV,’” Ellsworth told Fortune. 

Ellsworth, 38, originally brewed up the first iterations of what would later become known as Poppi in 2015 by mixing fruit juice, prebiotics, and sparkling water in her kitchen, marketing the drink as a healthier alternative to classic sodas. Today, the viral TikTok sensation now generates over $500 million in annual revenue and was acquired by PepsiCo for $1.95 billion last year.

“A lot of people will say, ‘What would you change from your past?’” Ellsworth said. “Absolutely nothing. Because I sold my company for $1.95 billion and all of those things that happened in my past got me to where I am today.”

How Ellsworth prepared for a successful Shark Tank pitch

In 2018, Ellsworth and her husband, Stephen, took their fledgling startup—then called Mother Beverage—to television, pitching their strategy before Shark Tank investors Mark Cuban, Lori Greiner, Rohan Oza, Kevin O’Leary, and Bethenny Frankel.   

“What I kept thinking to myself [was], this moment right here could change my life,” Ellsworth told Fortune. “And it absolutely did.”

Getting on Shark Tank was a hurdle in and of itself. Only 0.42% of the applications from Ellsworth’s........

© Fortune