Noogs

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business

Industry: Sports Nutrition

MBA Founding Student Name(s): Benjamin Foote

Funding Dollars: $1,000,000

Brief Description of Solution

Noogs makes sports nutrition products that taste like sour gummy candy, challenging the traditional notion that sports nutrition products are notoriously “bad” or “gross.” Like many other products, Noogs supports performance, but we go a step further by prioritizing taste. The idea is simple: if you actually enjoy your fuel, you are more likely to take it consistently, perform better, and have a more positive experience overall. This also reflects the growing shift in the endurance world. The culture has expanded beyond serious, competitive athletes to include people who run for connection, joy, community, and the fun of moving at whatever pace gets them across the finish line. Noogs is designed for this broader, more inclusive community.

We are a woman-owned brand created by a registered dietitian, running coach, and marathon runner who wanted products that tasted good and felt approachable for athletes at every level. Our chews are vegan, gluten-free, made with natural flavors and colors, and formulated to be soft and easy to eat during exercise. They deliver the carbohydrates and electrolytes runners need in a format that feels familiar, enjoyable, and easy-to-use. We believe great fueling can support performance and still make people smile, and that is the idea behind every product we make.

What led you to launch this venture? Our story began in 2021 when my wife and co-founder, Paige, was out for a run and had an idea for a sports nutrition product she could actually look forward to eating. As a marathoner and dietitian, she had tried every gel and chew she could find but still struggled to enjoy them on the run. Sour gummy candies were a fun alternative, but they lacked electrolytes, were hard to chew while exercising, and often got stuck in her teeth. She kept thinking, “If only there were energy chews that tasted like sour gummy candy.” Eventually the idea clicked: If she couldn’t find them, she could make them.

When we researched the market, we realized that much of the sports nutrition category prioritized function over taste and leaned heavily on serious, aspirational branding. There was a clear opportunity to disrupt the space with a product that delivered both function and fun, especially as more “party pace” athletes and socially driven marathoners were looking for fuel that matched the fun and community-oriented spirit of their training. With my background in entrepreneurship and experience in the military innovation ecosystem, I saw real potential. We began experimenting with formulations and partnered with a food science team to develop a chew that was delicious, easy-to-eat while moving, and delivered the electrolytes and carbohydrates endurance athletes need. What started as a passing thought on a long run became the foundation for Noogs: a more fun, approachable, and innovative way for athletes to fuel.

What has been your biggest accomplishment so far with the venture? We are now in 100 stores, have raised over one million dollars, and have traveled around the country introducing athletes to Noogs. However, our biggest accomplishment has been meeting and selling to over 100,000 endurance athletes. Almost every weekend we attend local races, specialty stores, or running club events, and once a month we participate in major expos with 20,000 to 50,000 participants. We set up a booth, hand out samples, and sell directly to thousands of athletes at a time.

Selling face-to-face allowed us to see just how disruptive our approach truly is. Athletes are surprised and excited to discover that fueling can be fun with a product that tastes like sour candy, makes training and competition more enjoyable; it feels relatable in a category that often focuses on elite performance rather than inclusivity. The direct feedback shaped our product, strengthened our brand, and confirmed that athletes were ready for something different. Reaching so many people in person has made me far more confident and effective at communicating our values and our vision for the future of fueling.

What has been the most significant challenge you have faced in creating your company, and how did you solve it? Product development and manufacturing have been our biggest challenge. It took more than a year-and-a-half to create a chew that tasted great, was easy to eat while exercising, delivered two-to-three times the electrolytes of most gels and chews, and had the blend of carbohydrates endurance athletes need. Creating a completely new product format also meant there was no existing playbook, so everything had to be built from scratch. Finding a manufacturer who understood sports nutrition and could scale the product took another year.

After many product iterations, we finally approved a flavor. When we received a new batch of samples, they suddenly tasted slightly different. We noticed the change immediately, but our manufacturer believed nothing had been altered. After more than a month of testing samples and debating the issue, the relationship became strained.

Once the quarter ended and the first week of our incubator program wrapped, Paige and I drove from Charlottesville to Texas with the last original sample we had approved. When the manufacturer’s food science team tasted it side-by-side with the new version, they quickly identified the issue: our natural beet juice coloring supplier had slightly modified their formula, creating a faint earthy aftertaste. Switching to black carrot coloring removed the unpleasant note and restored the sour candy flavor we wanted. The experience reinforced our commitment to maintaining product quality without compromise and advocating for what our athletes want.

How has your MBA program helped you further this startup venture? Darden and the Batten Institute were essential to launching Noogs. Pitch competitions helped us refine our storytelling, and our first investors came through a Darden introduction. Batten also connected us with mentors who advised us on packaging, fundraising, and scaling the business. My venture capital and private equity professors helped me better understand negotiation and term sheets, which proved extremely valuable during our fundraising process.

The Darden and Batten entrepreneurial communities welcomed Paige’s involvement as well, allowing us to participate together in workshops, pitch events, and incubator programs. That shared experience strengthened our partnership and accelerated our progress. Altogether, the support from Darden created an ideal environment for us to grow Noogs.

Which MBA class was most valuable in building your startup, and what lesson did you gain from it? Venture Velocity was the most valuable class I took while building Noogs. The course focused on accelerating student ventures and brought together classmates, professors, and mentors who were all actively working on companies. The most important lesson I learned was that the best way to get honest and useful feedback is to try selling your product to real customers rather than relying on supportive feedback from friends and classmates. It’s easy to spend too much time on market research or product tweaks without hearing from the people who will actually be purchasing your product. By approaching athletes directly and selling to them, Paige and I received immediate, honest feedback that shaped our products and helped drive our growth.

What professor made a significant contribution to your plans, and why? Professor Jim Zuffoletti played a major role in our success. As the instructor for Venture Velocity, he approached the class with the perspective of a founder. He asked insightful questions, offered practical guidance, and introduced us to people in his network who could support us.

He also encouraged us to test our ideas quickly through sales and customer conversations, and he built a strong sense of community within the entrepreneurial group at Darden. His support was invaluable as we launched Noogs.

How has your local startup ecosystem contributed to your venture’s development and success? Charlottesville and the UVA community have been incredibly supportive as we’ve worked to disrupt a traditional category. We received access to coworking space, labs, mentors, investors, and countless helpful introductions. All of our investors so far have come from the UVA and Charlottesville ecosystem. Local specialty running stores championed our brand early on, and running clubs and race organizers regularly invited us to their events, which helped us connect directly with athletes and validate our new approach to fueling.

Although Paige and I are from Oregon, a wonderful place for endurance sports, we chose to stay in Charlottesville because of the strong support network we found here. It has become an ideal place to train, grow, and build a sports nutrition brand that challenges the status quo.

What is your long-term goal with your startup? Our long-term goal is to make Noogs the most welcoming, fun, approachable, and delicious nutrition brand for endurance athletes. We want to redefine what sports nutrition can look and feel like by balancing performance with joy and inclusivity. As we expand into sports retailers across the globe, our vision is for Noogs to become the preferred fuel for athletes of all levels, and a leader in reshaping how the industry thinks about taste, branding, and the athlete experience.

Looking back, what is the biggest lesson you wish you had known before launching and scaling your venture? I wish I had known how long product design and development would take. In the Air and Space Force, I managed satellite programs that cost hundreds of millions of dollars and took years to complete. I assumed that creating an energy chew would be much faster and simpler.

In reality, it required far more time, effort, and resources than I expected. Although the process was challenging, it taught me valuable lessons about manufacturing, patience, and staying committed to quality. The things that matter most often take longer than anticipated, but they are worth the effort.

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