Mark Cuban backs efforts to replace college kegger’s iconic red Solo cup

In New York, a startup founded by two college students has received a $1.7-million boost from billionaire Mark Cuban and others to expand production of single-use cups based on polylactic acid. 

The milestone was an early and unlikely victory for Earth Brands, which was founded in 2019 by Michael Medvedev and Peter Frelinghuysen to address the plastic waste crisis. The two say they were specifically inspired to replace red Solo-brand cups—synonymous at college parties and beer pong tournaments. 

The young company had already been gaining traction. Employing “student ambassadors” and social media, Earth Brands grew orders from 20,000 cups in early 2021 to 1.5 million this winter, according to a write-up in Newsday. They also moved fulfillment operations out of Medvedev’s mom’s garage. 

Cuban got involved after a Hail Mary (or if you prefer a beer pong analogy, Redemption) message via LinkedIn. Cuban ordered a 50-cup bag, and a week later reached out to Medvedev and Frelinghuysen to invest. 

Cuban is “someone who doesn’t beat around the bush too much. … He saw something in us,” Frelinghuysen tells Newsday. Cuban ended up being among eight investors. Medvedev and Frelinghuysen plan to use the funds to move production to the West Coast and explore more products based on PLA. 

“We’re not trying to just sell the same product forever, and we’re not trying to get bought out by Solo in a year,” Medvedev said. “We’re trying to grow this into a globally recognized brand.” 

His mom reports being “very happy” the cups are out of her garage.