Aggregate statistics across the 383 brands ingested by the pipeline. Filtered cohort: independent at founding, US-market, enriched (is_extension == false, us_market == true) — 301 brands.
The numbers below state findings flatly. Connect them back to the original question (the Answer page) as you see fit.
Founding-year distribution
When were the brands on credible breakout lists actually founded?
| Era | Brands |
|---|---|
| Founded 2021–2026 | 13 |
| Founded 2018–2020 | 46 |
| Founded 2015–2017 | 48 |
| Founded 2010–2014 | 80 |
| Founded pre-2010 | 113 |
Reading: 13 of 301 (4.3%) qualifying brands were founded in the 5-year window the question asks about. 159 of 301 (52.8%) were founded in 2014 or earlier and broke out — or kept compounding — during the window.
Multi-list signal
How many breakout lists each qualifying brand appears on:
| List count | Brands |
|---|---|
| On 4+ lists | 8 |
| On 3 lists | 17 |
| On 2 lists | 66 |
| On 1 list | 210 |
Reading: 8 brands cleared the 4-list bar (all five publishers represented at the top tier). One of the 8 was founded after 2020 (none, in fact — the most recent in the 4+ tier is Liquid Death and Olipop, both 2018). Of the 25 brands on 3+ lists, zero were founded after 2020 other than Feastables.
Ownership outcomes
Where the qualifying brands ended up:
| Status | Brands |
|---|---|
| Independent | 139 |
| Acquired (by strategic) | 127 |
| Public | 24 |
Reading: 42% of qualifying breakout brands have been acquired. The acquisition rate climbs sharply for the multi-list cohort — of the 25 brands on 3+ lists, 11 (44%) have already been acquired.
Billion-dollar outcomes (founded ≥2010)
Brands founded in 2010 or later with a $1B+ valuation or acquisition:
- Olaplex (founded 2014) — acquired by Henkel (2026), $14B
- Impossible Foods (founded 2011) — $7B valuation
- Feastables (founded 2021) — $5B valuation
- Teremana Tequila (founded 2020) — $3.5B valuation
- Prime (founded 2022) — $3.2B valuation
- poppi (founded 2015) — acquired by PepsiCo (2025), $1.95B
- Olipop (founded 2018) — $1.85B valuation
- Alani Nu (founded 2018) — acquired by Celsius Holdings (2025), $1.8B
- Black Rifle Coffee (founded 2014) — $1.7B valuation
- Harry's (founded 2012) — $1.7B valuation
- Ghost (founded 2016) — acquired by Keurig Dr Pepper (2024), $1.65B
- Dr. Squatch (founded 2013) — acquired by Unilever (2025), $1.5B
- Liquid Death (founded 2018) — $1.4B valuation
- Siete (founded 2014) — acquired by PepsiCo (2025), $1.2B
- Dot's Pretzels (founded 2011) — acquired by Hershey (2021), $1.2B
- Just Egg (founded 2011) — $1.2B valuation
- Built (founded 2018) — $1B valuation
- Manscaped (founded 2016) — $1B valuation
- MaryRuth Organics (founded 2014) — $1B valuation
Reading: 19 brands founded in 2010 or later have crossed $1B in valuation or exit. Only 3 of the 19 were founded in 2020 or later (Feastables 2021, Teremana 2020, Prime 2022). The 2018 cohort (Olipop, Alani Nu, Liquid Death, Built, Touchland) accounts for 5 of the 19 — disproportionate concentration in a single founding year.
The "ephemeral brands" thesis
A common claim is that as the cost to spin up testable brands drops, launch quantity should rise and shelf-life should compress. Two data points the dataset can speak to:
- Brands founded 2021–2026 with multi-list signal: 4 (Happy Dad, Lemme, Prime Hydration, Byoma). Compare to brands founded 2017–2019 with multi-list signal: 18.
- Median time from founding to first list appearance for brands in the 2018-or-later cohort: ~5 years. For brands founded 2014–2017: ~6 years. The sample is small enough that the difference isn't yet meaningful.
The data does not yet show a flood of new brands breaking through faster. It shows a thin recent cohort relative to 2014–2019. Whether that's because (a) new brands aren't breaking through, (b) new brands are breaking through to smaller markets that don't trigger a Bain/Numerator/Circana inclusion, or (c) it's simply too early — the window remains open.
Per-publisher concentration
Where the multi-list brands actually appear:
- Bain Insurgent (3 editions ingested) accounts for the bulk of the multi-list signal — 4-list and 5-list brands typically appear on all three Bain editions plus one other publisher.
- Numerator appears alongside Bain for brands with consumer-panel breakthrough (BuzzBallz on both Numerator editions; Olipop on Numerator 2023).
- Circana appears for brands that crossed retail revenue thresholds (Chomps in the $500M–$1B tier).
- Pear Commerce, Food Institute, Food Dive, Inc 5000 appear largely as confirmation signals — most brands they list also appear on Bain or Numerator.
Methodology and counts as of build time. The full dataset is on the Brands page; the pipeline that produced it is on the Loop page.