Index Laboratory Process Work About Intake
Forward Beverage Lab · Fractional Innovation Officer

Forward Lab.

The space between a compelling beverage concept and a commercially viable product is where most ideas stall — whether you’re a startup founder with a napkin sketch or a category leader launching your next line.

Closing that gap takes someone who has lived on both sides — the creative studio and the production floor — and can move fluently between them.

Operator-level experience in liquid development, brand building, and commercialization — with the business and financial fluency to support you whether you’re fundraising a concept or revitalizing a legacy.

01
Laboratory
Services and engagement structure
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02
Process
Three phases from discovery through launch
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03
Work
Brands founded and client engagements
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04
Intake
Start an engagement — submit a Technical Brief
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Laboratory
An embedded innovation practice across a limited number of organizations. The scope scales. The depth doesn’t.
01
Liquid Development & Formulation
Flavor architecture, ingredient strategy, and bench-level formulation work — Liquid Development is where we move from “what if” to “what’s in the can.” For a startup…
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02
Brand Strategy & Positioning
We hunt for product-market fit and a narrative that earns the price point — carving out a category of one for a startup, or extending a portfolio without diluting the parent brand…
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03
Supply Chain & Raw Materials
We build a bulletproof supply chain to protect your margins as you scale — direct-from-farm contracts for startups, cost-out audits and secondary supplier strategies for large producers…
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04
Commercial Scale-Up
The bench-to-bulk transition is where most great liquids fail. We match you with the right co-packer, manage the full process transfer, and are on the floor for hands-on oversight during the first run…
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05
Go-to-Market & Launch Oversight
The work doesn’t stop when the first pallet is wrapped — from boots-on-the-ground independent retail strategy to channel discipline that keeps a premium launch from getting cannibalized…
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06
Enterprise Operations
A tactical audit to stop margin bleed — SOP rewrites, QC drift monitoring, and supply chain cost review for established producers who need a sharper, leaner operation…
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07
Financial & Investor Support
Turning a compelling liquid into a fundable business — from unit economics at $3.99 retail to board-level CAPEX justifications and investor presentations built for your specific category…
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Forward Thinking
Three phases, no ambiguity. Scale changes who’s at the table, not what needs to be considered.
01
Phase One
Discovery
A deep audit of your brand, your liquid, your market position, and your ambitions. Most clients leave this first conversation with a clearer picture of what they’re actually building — and what’s standing in the way.
  • Brand audit & competitive landscape
  • Category & trend analysis
  • Liquid review & commercial feasibility
  • Margin & pricing structure review
02
Phase Two
Innovation
Liquid strategy and flavor architecture grounded in commercial reality — what tastes exceptional, what scales cleanly, and what the market will actually pay for. Vision becomes specification.
  • Flavor concept & architecture
  • Bench formulation & iteration
  • Ingredient & supplier strategy
  • Nielsen & category data analysis
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Phase Three
Launch
Commercialization, co-packer sourcing, and go-to-market execution. The transition from pilot to production run is managed end-to-end, with active oversight through launch and the first reorder cycle.
  • Co-packer sourcing & qualification
  • Commercial spec & process transfer
  • Distribution & channel strategy
  • Launch oversight & first-run support
Work
Brands founded and client engagements.
Brands I Created
Funk Factory Geuzeria
Project Funk Factory Geuzeria
Scope Founder — spontaneously fermented beer pioneer, Madison WI
Untitled Art
Project Untitled Art
Scope Co-Founder — nationally distributed brewery, creative innovation
Green Canvas
Project Green Canvas
Scope Founder — functional beverage brand
Florida Seltzer
Project Florida Seltzer
Scope Founder — regional hard seltzer brand
Clients I've Worked With
Abita Brewing Company
Project Abita Brewing Company
Scope Innovation strategy & product development
RMBR Kombucha
Project RMBR Kombucha
Scope Formulation, scale-up, commercialization
Big Grove Brewery
Project Big Grove Brewery
Scope Innovation leadership & brand extensions
Partners I Align With
Ahead of the Curve Strategy
Project Ahead of the Curve Strategy
Scope Strategic alignment partner
About
Fractional Innovation Officer & Beverage Entrepreneur

I’m Levi Funk — a beverage entrepreneur and Fractional Innovation Officer who has spent over a decade building brands that challenge convention. I founded Funk Factory Geuzeria in 2013, pioneering spontaneously fermented beer in the United States, and co-founded Untitled Art in 2018, a nationally distributed brewery known for creative boldness and relentless product innovation.

Success in this industry requires a specific overlap of skills that rarely live in the same building: the intuition to know what a liquid should look like. The science to personally formulate it. And the experience of an operator who has built brands from concept through commercial production, navigated co-manufacturers, and built national distribution.

I serve as an embedded innovation practice for a limited number of clients — from growth-stage brands to established regional producers — providing executive-level oversight of innovation, quality, and commercialization from the inside. I am the partner who ensures your vision is technically sound and backed by the category data required to know what the market will support before the first bench trial.

Levi Funk
Funk Factory Geuzeria
Founder · Est. 2013 · Madison, WI
Untitled Art
Co-Founder · Est. 2018 · Waunakee, WI
Forward Beverage Lab
Fractional Innovation Officer · Est. 2024
Technical Brief

Forward Beverage Lab operates as a Fractional Innovation Officer — embedded in a limited number of client organizations at a time. Engagements are scoped to where you are. Submit a brief and expect a response within 24–48 hours.

hello@forwardbevlab.com