PREPD Hydration, the drink for the elite sport and exercise markets, is eyeing export market development in 2021 with a crowdfunding capital raising.

The company aims to raise up to $1.5 million to help expand into the larger US and European markets after branching into Singapore and Hong Kong in order to tap in on a $228 billion global consumer industry.

PREPD is a rehydration solution based on more than 20 years of collaborative medical research between Flinders University and experts at Yale University.

The research began at Flinders in South Australia to develop better oral hydration for people in developing countries where severe dehydration results in diseases such as cholera and rotavirus.

PREPD Hydration works by using a special resistant starch identified as a key factor in promoting hydration and is gaining a profile in the Australian sports nutrition market, with partnerships in several sports including the AFL.

Andrew Perry, CEO, says since late 2018, the company has launched a new sub-category in the sports nutrition market, secured patents in the USA and Australia, partnered with Ironman Oceania and launched a range of powdered products in tubs and sachets.

“The PREPD product is pioneering sports nutrition with its technology for improved hydration for athletes and we want to continue to power forward.

In Australia, the target market are the estimated 3.5 million Australians who exercise for at least three hours a week.

“We have an amazing domestic market if we can get 1% of these regular exercise participants using PREPD twice a week,” Mr Perry says, adding the potential is enormous considering the size of the American and European markets, and the crowdfunding campaign investors so far reflects this confidence in the product range.