LARQ Self-Cleaning Bottle

Key numbers

The product

The LARQ Bottle hides a UV-C LED in its lid that neutralises up to 99.99% of bacteria and viruses in 20-60 seconds and self-cleans every two hours, so the bottle never smells and the water never tastes of chemicals. Later models added a plant-based Nano Zero filter for chlorine, heavy metals and PFAS. It targets travellers and commuters who distrust tap water and dislike single-use plastic.

How they did it

LARQ, originally named QUARTZ, launched on Kickstarter in 2017 and closed at over $1.4M from about 12,000 backers, the largest hydration crowdfunding campaign ever at the time. The team paired lab-proven UV-C technology with premium design, scaled through direct-to-consumer e-commerce and landed in Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's. All-channel sales reached roughly $30M across 16+ countries by 2022, and German water-filter giant Brita acquired the brand in 2024. The economics rely on premium hardware plus recurring filter sales.

Why it worked

• Shrank professional water-treatment technology into a consumer object
• A record Kickstarter doubled as launch platform and PR engine
• Design-led premium positioning opened premium retail doors
• DTC first, then recurring filter revenue