Celebrity chef Guy Fieri and American Idol host Ryan Seacrest have joined a $30 million Series A round for Path, a California-based sustainable bottled water brand. California’s Altos Ventures led the round with participation from Blue Investment Group, HartBeat Ventures, Kevin Hart’s venture fund and Ninja.
Led by CEO Shadi Bakour, the seven-year-old Path provides bottled drinking water in a durable aluminum bottle that can be recycled. It seeks to break what it terms an “addiction to single-use plastic bottled water.”
“This funding will accelerate our mission to bring the plastic crisis to the forefront and create a scalable platform for sustainability,” said Bakour, who has driven for Uber and Lyft, and delivered for DoorDash in his quest to build Path.
Linked to the Series A funding, Path separately announced distribution deals with major retailers such as CVS, Costco Business Centers, 7/11 and Walmart. Its retail partners include Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Rite Aid, Circle K and Wegmans.
True Social Entrepreneur
Guy Fieri, who runs Baltimore Kitchen & Bar, is one of the hottest chefs in the country, and a media celebrity. In March 2021, he renewed a contract with Food Network, where he runs two shows — Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, on air since 2006, and Guy’s Grocery Games. The three-year deal was worth $80 million, more than double the previous one, making him the highest paid chef on television. The 54-year-old who famously washed dishes to support his studies in France has a philanthropic side too. In a partnership with the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation in 2020, he has raised millions of dollars for restaurant workers hit hard by the Covd-19 shutdown.
Media Star
For over two decades, Seacrest has been among the top media producers in the country. He is arguably best known for producing and hosting American Idol but also famous for his signature show, On Air with Ryan Seacrest. Seacrest has built a booming business across TV and radio. In 2012, he received a $300 million commitment from Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital to fund his media ventures. Seacrest also runs a philanthropic foundation that has, since 2010, launched studios in children’s hospitals in a bid to cheer up young patients.
Leaving No Stone Unturned
Shadi Bakour is a so-called social entrepreneur determined to weed out single-use plastic from our society. He was a consultant with Booz Allen and Hamilton, before leaving it to start Exumme, a startup that was later acquired. He has battled serious hardships since starting Path in 2015. But he has been undaunted, driving for Uber and Lyft, served at Macaroni Grill, “delivered Doordash, flipped items at garage sales, took on small business consulting projects, and did anything I could to make a little cash,” in his social pursuit. In Path’s early days, Bakour was known to deliver its water bottles, notably to 7 Eleven but also to other stores.
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Path has survived several ups and downs, but Bakour has tasted success, notably in enlisting environmentally conscious celebrities in his noble quest. In recent years, he has also focused on broadening branding partners. Some of Path’s co-brands include Alo Yoga, Orangetheory Fitness, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
“People are starting to realize that single-use plastic doesn’t work in the long run for us as a civilization,” Bakour told YPO in an interview. “They’re aligning themselves with brands that speak about what they consume as a person.”
“I believe that, ultimately, our main competitor is plastic and we are fighting the battle against single-use plastics. Anyone putting that message out there that’s better for the planet, we are in support of that,” he added.
