A five-month-old functional beverage startup has posted what it calls its largest single-launch sell-through to date, with FINNSUL reporting that 25% of Rocket Pop inventory sold within 60 minutes of the product going live on its direct-to-consumer site — driven by a creator collaboration with internet personality Tana Mongeau.

The Miami-based brand, co-founded by tarte cosmetics founder and CEO Maureen Kelly and her sons Finn and Sully McDonough, disclosed that two days of social teasing ahead of the drop generated more than 10,000 waitlist registrations. The Tana Mongeau x FINNSUL Rocket Pop is now the top-performing launch in the brand's short history.

The Product

Rocket Pop is a powdered drink mix positioned at the intersection of the hydration and nootropic-energy segments — one of the fastest-growing aisles in the non-alcoholic beverage and functional nutrition space. The formula includes Cognizin® citicoline, L-theanine, 150 milligrams of natural caffeine, B vitamins and magnesium, at 0 grams of sugar and 10 calories per serving. The flavor profile — cherry, lime and blue raspberry — is modelled on the classic tri-color freezer pop, a deliberate nostalgia play.

The launch fits a broader pattern in the better-for-you beverage segment, where brands are increasingly pairing clinically-recognized ingredients with pop-culture aesthetics and creator-led distribution to bypass traditional retail gatekeeping. Competitors including Liquid I.V., Bloom Nutrition and Ryse have used similar influencer-first strategies to build eight- and nine-figure revenue bases before securing mass retail shelf space.

Founders and Strategy

Maureen Kelly brings operational credibility from scaling tarte cosmetics into a globally distributed beauty brand. Her sons — Sully, 20, a University of Miami student, and Finn, 19, at the University of Texas — provide the generational perspective the brand is built around. The founding narrative centers on dissatisfaction with complex supplement stacks, positioning FINNSUL as a simplified, single-step solution for focus, energy and hydration.

For the Rocket Pop collaboration, Mongeau was involved in creative direction rather than serving purely as a paid endorser, according to the brand. The campaign was styled around a '90s Americana aesthetic, leaning on childhood nostalgia to extend the flavor story into visual culture — a tactic that functions as organic content fuel across short-form video platforms where FINNSUL (@FINNSUL) is building its primary audience.

"Our generation expects products to work, but we also expect creativity, personality and brands that move at the speed of culture," said Finn and Sully McDonough, co-founders of FINNSUL. "Tana did not just put her name on Rocket Pop — she helped create a world around it."

What's Next

FINNSUL has not disclosed revenue figures, total units sold, or forward retail distribution plans. The brand operates exclusively through its own e-commerce channel at this stage, a common early-phase posture for functional beverage entrants looking to prove velocity data before approaching major grocery or club-store buyers. The Rocket Pop sell-through metric — while not tied to an absolute unit count — provides the kind of demand signal that typically precedes conversations with retail partners and institutional investors in the better-for-you category.

For foodservice and grocery buyers tracking the functional hydration shelf, FINNSUL's rapid early traction is consistent with consumer trends driving powder-format energy and hydration products into mainstream distribution. The creator-commerce model the brand is employing has become a dominant acquisition channel for emerging beverage brands seeking to demonstrate cultural relevance before committing to brick-and-mortar slotting costs.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.