Big Moves: Graza, Rothy's, Hiyo, Nest New York and Something & Nothing

The last few weeks have been red hot in consumer brands. One of the buzziest names in the pantry is quietly shopping itself, two drink brands raised real money, and a candle turned into a perfume. Here's what happened, and what you can steal from each one.

Graza: hired Lazard to explore a sale

Axios Pro reported that Graza, the venture-backed olive oil brand known for its green squeeze bottles, hired the investment bank Lazard to explore a potential sale. Hiring a bank starts a process. It is not a deal, and no buyer or price has been announced.¹

Why it matters: Graza turned a commodity into something people recognize from across a kitchen. A product shape customers can name is part of what a buyer looks at.

See how they stack up on Brand Tested

Rothy's: its widest campaign, ten years in

For its tenth anniversary, Rothy's launched Point of View, which it calls its widest-reaching campaign yet. It features 16 women across video, social, print and out-of-home billboards, with five Substack writers taking part, and it arrives with the third generation of the Point flat in a dozen new colors.²

Wholesale is now just under a third of Rothy's revenue. Anna Doré, VP of brand and communication: "When you're on shelves all over the place, you need a strong brand identity more than ever."²

Why it matters: When a third of revenue comes through other people's stores, the brand has to explain itself on someone else's shelf. The more places you sell, the more work the brand itself has to do.

See how they stack up on Brand Tested

Hiyo: a $20.8M Series B led by Constellation Brands

Hiyo, the non-alcoholic social tonic founded in 2021 by Evan Quinn, George Youmans and Cygne Cooper, raised an oversubscribed $20.8 million Series B led by Constellation Brands' venture arm, with Live Nation also investing.^3,4

The money goes to a wider retail footprint and to live entertainment and nightlife. Distribution has reached 5,000 doors, with plans for 10,000 across Costco, Target and Kroger.³

Why it matters: Hiyo's lead investor sells drinks into the stores it wants, and its other investor runs the venues. Match the capital to the channel you need next.

Nest New York: its Holiday candle, bottled as perfume

Nest New York is turning its bestselling Holiday candle into Wonder, an eau de parfum, this month. Fine fragrance made up about 40% of Nest's new product launches in 2025 and 75% in 2026. Holiday sales are the majority of Nest's annual revenue, though the Holiday line is on sale only four months a year.⁵

Toni Lakis, chief creative and brand officer, said Nest's home and fine fragrance customers are very different: perfume sells at Sephora and Ulta to a younger shopper, while home fragrance sells mostly in department stores to an older one. "Of course you don't exactly want to wear what your house smells like, but we kept the essence of Holiday," she said. Adding notes like patchouli made Wonder a spicy woody citrus.⁵

Why it matters: Nest didn't have to build awareness for a new scent, because customers already knew Holiday. The product people already buy for the house can be the bridge into a new category, if you redesign it for how they'll use it.

Something & Nothing: a $6.4M round led by Venrex

Something & Nothing, the premium soda founded in the UK by Olly Dixon and Rupert Pugsley, raised $6.4 million in equity led by Venrex, with existing investors Rianta Capital, ACF Investors and The Source Ventures (Spadel). It has raised $15.7 million since 2020. The US is now more than 65% of global revenue, and the company says US revenue grew 70% across June and July 2026, with Amazon sales more than doubling over the summer.⁶

The B Corp brand reaches about 17,000 doors worldwide, including H-E-B and Whole Foods Market, and built its US business with a team of three. The new money goes to consumer marketing, a bigger team and working capital. Co-founder Rupert Pugsley: "We focus on velocity rather than doors, and on being in the right accounts in the right neighborhoods."⁶

Why it matters: Something & Nothing won market by market before making its first real national push for awareness. Prove velocity in the right doors first, and grow lean until the product and the neighborhood prove out.

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Big Moves covers raises, acquisitions, retail launches, product launches and notable hires across consumer brands: food and beverage, apparel, accessories, home goods, jewelry, cosmetics, skincare and wellness. Every item is checked against a primary or reputable source with a date. No brand pays to appear. Reply to the newsletter to suggest one.

The Brand Tested Score measures how distinct a brand is (Brand DNA, 40%) and how well its own online store sells (Site Experience, 60%). Scores are Brand Tested’s opinion, built from public storefront pages and the apps we detected on the scan date and our published v2.0 methodology. They aren’t statements of fact about any company. See something wrong? Request a correction.