SAN FRANCISCO — Next In Natural, a New York-based investment firm, has acquired a majority stake in Aura Bora, a startup producing sparkling waters. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Paul Voge, chief executive officer and co-founder of Aura Bora, will focus on future product innovation. Jeff Lichtenstein, CEO of Next in Natural, will become chairman of the board.

“I’m very proud of the brand we’ve built over the past six years,” Voge said. “Our products continue to be a welcome change from the norm, in what has traditionally been a boring category. I’m excited for our team to continue to innovate, grow our audience, and release products consumers love. We will benefit greatly from Next in Natural’s expertise in scaling efficiently and effectively.”

Aura Bora was founded in Paul and Madelein Voge’s kitchen in 2019. The couple began experimenting with their SodaStream along with herbs and botanicals in their pantry and landed on shelves in 2020. The company currently formulates its sparkling waters with fruits, herbs and flowers.

Aura Bora appeared on “Shark Tank” in 2021 and accepted a deal with multimillionaire Robert Herjavec  — who offered $200,000 for a 15% stake in the company. Later that year, the company raised $2 million in a seed round and closed a Series A funding round in September 2022. The Series A round brought its total financing to more than $10 million.  

The company expanded beyond its initial offerings of sparkling water in 2023. Aura Bora and olive oil brand Graza, partnered together to offer a zero-proof beverage. The zero-proof beverage combined Graza’s Extra Virgin Picual Olive Oil with yuzu extract, juniper oil, vermouth flavor and lightly sparkling water.

Aura Bora is not the only sparkling botanicals beverage company in Next In Natural’s portfolio. Next In Natural recently acquired Sound, a maker of organic sparkling botanicals and teas in May 2024.

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