Own a part of a 2000 year old overnight success
Posca Hydrate Pty Ltd
The Ancient Romans were on to something
Roman legions marched on posca. Water, red grape vinegar, salt. It kept the legions upright across an empire for the better part of a thousand years, and then it vanished.
Merrick Watts brought it back on his kitchen bench. Not as a history project, as a hydration soda built for today in flavours people actually want to drink. Zero sugar, four electrolytes, prebiotic fibre, red grape vinegar.
Ed Stening first assessed Posca Hydrate as an acquisition target at Lion and advised Merrick on the business. Nine months later Merrick came back and asked him to turn it into a business.
More than 800,000 cans sold. Ranged in over 3,000 locations. Independently tested. A complete next-generation product landing November 2026.
The recipe is 2,000 years old. The business is just getting started.
Want to know more? Watch the Investor Q&A here
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Seven reasons this is not a novelty
- A category with our name on it. Hydration Soda. Hydration and gut health in one can, where everything else in the fridge picks a side.
- A A$1 billion category, and we are in two parts of it. IBISWorld puts Australian functional beverage production at about A$1.0 billion in 2025 to 26, with fermented drinks at 33.7% and sports drinks at 23.5%. Posca Hydrate is built for both.
- Proof in the fridge, not the deck. More than 800,000 cans sold, over A$2.5m in gross revenue, ranged in over 3,000 locations, DTC repeat purchase above 36%.
- A founder story you cannot manufacture. Merrick Watts invented Posca Hydrate on his kitchen bench. Ed Stening assessed it as an acquisition at Lion, then joined as co-founder and CEO.
- Known by few. Chosen by most who meet it. Tracksuit tracking from May to July 2026 puts Posca Hydrate at 8% awareness. In a separate cohort of Australian women aged 25 to 44 in households earning A$75,000 or more, 80% of those aware would consider it against a 56% competitor average, and 75% of those considering it prefer it against 29%.
- Tested, not just claimed. 492 mOsm/kg on independent osmolality testing. HASTA screening across all three flavours found no prohibited substances in the tested samples. A two-year shelf life.
- The next generation, November 2026. A 250mL format that fits more fridges, redesigned packaging, an evolved liquid, and Halal ingredient inputs built for export.
Hydration and gut health. One can.
Posca Hydrate is a Hydration Soda. Sparkling, zero sugar, no caffeine, built to do two jobs at once. Four electrolytes, magnesium, potassium, sodium and calcium, and prebiotic fibre provide the functional proof, supported by red grape vinegar and 100% Halal ingredient inputs. It supports sustained hydration and electrolyte balance, metabolic wellness, satiety and a healthy gut environment.
Three flavours: Yuzu, Pineapple and Grape.
The business sells through wholesale and distribution partners, independent and convenience retail, travel and hospitality, events, and direct to consumers online. Production is outsourced to Australian manufacturing partners, a capital-light model that keeps the company's money in formulation, brand, demand and getting product into the right fridges.
From November 2026 the next generation arrives. A 250mL format that fits more fridges and more price points, redesigned packaging with stronger shelf impact, an evolved liquid, and sharper ownership of the Hydration Soda position.
Easier to understand. Easier to try. Built to scale.
The fridge is changing
Australians are walking away from sugar and towards function, and they are not willing to give up flavour to do it.
Roy Morgan has 5.7 million Australians aged 14 and over drinking a probiotic, sports or energy drink at least weekly. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows the share of Australians drinking sugar-sweetened beverages down 22.3 percentage points, while electrolyte, energy and fortified water rose 2.4 points.
The audience is already there. A GWI cut supplied by Affinity identifies approximately 2.1 million Australian sports and hydration drinkers, around 1.5 million of them Gen Z and Millennial.
Most of the category still asks that shopper to choose, function or flavour, sports aisle or soft drink aisle. Posca Hydrate sits exactly on that trade. It is not a sports drink with a story attached. It is the drink that came before sports drinks, rebuilt as a soda.
And the occasions are wider than sport. Work, travel, heat, recovery, and the one nobody else will say out loud, before a big night and the morning after.
One store sells 82 cans a day
- More than 800,000 cans sold since launch.
- Over A$2.5m in gross revenue since launch. A gross measure, not net revenue.
- Ranged in over 3,000 locations, across independent grocery, convenience, travel and hospitality.
- DTC repeat purchase above 36%. People do not try it once.
- 82 cans a day, the average reported at LaManna Essendon Fields.
- More than 1,000 cans sold at the Good Food & Wine Show Sydney, with thousands more sampled.
- 15.8 million combined campaign reach and an estimated A$16m in media value from A$1.129m of spend, roughly 14 times over.
Individual store and event results show what happens when taste, trial and the right environment come together. They are not representative of every store or every event.
In July 2026 the SPC national field team was activated for Posca Hydrate for the first time, bringing store-level execution, merchandising and reorder discipline to distribution the business already holds.
The distribution is built. The next job is awareness.
You cannot fake 2,000 years
Positioning. Hydration Soda is ours to define. Two categories in one can, in a fridge where everything else picks a side.
Evidence. A formulation supported by independent osmolality testing and HASTA screening of tested samples, gluten free, with a two-year shelf life. The shelf life is what makes retail, airline and export channels possible at all.
Protected marks. Australian registered word and device marks, with registrations or applications across a number of international markets.
The engine. A founder-led media and partnership engine that has generated substantial reach without relying only on paid digital acquisition.
The story opens the door. The product and the founders keep people in the room. Neither works without the other, and that is the part nobody can copy.
Own it. Wear it. Share the liquid.
Invest in Posca Hydrate and you do more than buy shares. You join the Legion. Every shareholder gets a DTC discount set by tier, access to The Forum, and an opt-in place on the Legion Roll.
Directors
Ed Stening
Co-founder, CEO and Director
Merrick "Mez" Watts
Co-founder, Inventor and Director
Courtney Fitzsimmons
Non-executive Director
Idris Jama
Non-executive Director
Team
Laurel-Lyn Rubio
Chief Financial Officer
Kat Murray
Global Head of Operations & Supply Chain
Mick Boston
Creative Director
Tom Bills
Marketing and Partnerships
Rosie Callingham
Junior Creative
Mimi Goldberg
Brand Activation & Content Producer.
Strategic Advisors
Dr Jessie McLachlan
Medicine, Preventative Health & Longevity
Dr Dan Pronk
Medicine, Resilience & Human Performance
Anubha Sahasrabuddhe
Beverage Strategy, CEO & Managing Director of Lion ANZ
Adam Ferrier
Consumer Psychology & Brand
Gavin Solomon
Capital Strategy & Investor Networks
Steve Grace
Talent & Scale-up Growth
Faz Habib
United States Capital Formation
Joseph "Da Rulk" Sakoda
Human Performance & United States Relationships
Pia Mia
Brand ambassador & International Audience
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