Austrian Protein Drink Maker Mucki Hits €10 Million Run Rate and Seeks Series A Funding
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The supermarket protein boom has produced an Austrian winner: The protein drink start-up mucki has passed a €10 million revenue run rate, earlier than expected, its founder, Alexander Novotny, announced in a LinkedIn post. At the same time, mucki is resuming talks on its Series A financing.
What’s Behind the €10 Million
Mr. Novotny calls it “€10M ARR,” but what he means is the so-called L3M run rate: revenue from the past three months, extrapolated to a full year. The figure therefore reflects the company’s current sales pace and is only partly comparable with the recurring subscription revenue of software companies. For next year, mucki expects at least €15 million in revenue.
Growth is coming mainly from retail. This year, revenue in Austrian retail tripled and revenue in German retail quadrupled, according to Mr. Novotny. Direct-to-consumer sales through its own online shop are also growing strongly, he said. The company did not disclose any profit figures.
From Billa to Kaufland
In Austria, mucki is sold at Billa, Spar, Interspar and MPreis; in Germany, at Rewe and Edeka, and now nationwide at Kaufland. By the end of the month, mucki aims to be in 60 percent of Rewe’s German stores and in all Kaufland stores. Kaufland is carrying the three core flavors: vanilla, banana and chocolate.
A standout this year was a protein drink with the taste of Schwedenbomben, a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat, made in collaboration with the heritage Austrian brand Niemetz and now available at Billa and Spar. A new banana milk has been on the shelves of all Billa stores for a few weeks. In Bavaria, its protein chocolate milk has been the bestselling ready-to-drink protein beverage per store since its introduction, according to Mr. Novotny.
Series A After a Deliberate Pause
Mucki wants to use new money for more products and more marketing. After what Mr. Novotny called a deliberate break to focus on operations, the company is looking for additional partners to continue its Series A round. It plans to present itself next week at a conference held by the investment bank Houlihan Lokey in London.
Mucki is run by AnovonA, a company founded in 2014 by Mr. Novotny that was bootstrapped until 2020. Most recently, at the end of 2024, the start-up raised just under €1 million from existing investors at a valuation of more than €14 million. Its backers include SalzburgMilch and the mineral water company Vilsa. The Austrian soccer star Marko Arnautović also promotes the brand.
The Competition
The market for protein products is fiercely contested. Refrigerated aisles carry protein drinks from Müllermilch, Ehrmann and Arla, along with brands such as YFood, which is owned by Nestlé, and bar makers like Barebells. Data from the market research firm NielsenIQ shows how big the business has become: In German retail, sales of dairy products with a protein claim rose 21.5 percent in the 12 months through March 2026, compared with 2.2 percent for products without such a claim.
A Trend That Comes at a Premium
Whether the boom will last is disputed. According to NielsenIQ, shoppers pay on average about 40 percent more for products with a protein claim. The consumer advice center in Hamburg considers such products unnecessary for most people, saying that according to studies, most people in Germany already consume more protein than they need and that the benefit for the majority of the population is small to nonexistent. The German Nutrition Society recommends that adults consume 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, slightly more for athletes.
