Who Owns Happy Dad?
Updated onExplore the ownership hierarchy of Happy Dad. See parent companies, holding structures, and ultimate controllers.
Ownership Chain
Happy Dad
Happy Dad is a privately held beverage brand and company that produces hard seltzers, teas, and lemonades and sells related apparel and merchandise.
Starts at $12
Happy Dad appears to be independent with no known parent company.
Happy Dad
Happy Dad is a privately held beverage brand and company that produces hard seltzers, teas, and lemonades and sells related apparel and merchandise.
Starts at $12
Happy Dad appears to be independent with no known parent company.
Major Shareholders
Happy Dad
Major Shareholders
| Name | Type | Ownership | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
Sam Shahidi Co‑founder and CEO of Happy Dad; serves as registered agent for both Happy Dad, LLC and Happy Dad Holdings, LLC in California filings and is widely described in industry coverage as a principal equity owner, but his exact stake is not publicly disclosed. | Founder | — | Apr 2025 |
John Shahidi Co‑founder and president of Happy Dad and co‑founder of Shots; Brewbound and company profiles list him alongside Sam Shahidi and Kyle Forgeard as a founding owner of Happy Dad, though no public source reports his precise equity percentage. | Founder | — | Apr 2025 |
Kyle Forgeard Co‑founder of Nelk and widely credited as a co‑founder and owner of Happy Dad; deal databases describe Happy Dad as a beverage company founded by the Nelk Boys together with the Shahidi brothers, but detailed cap‑table information is not disclosed. | Founder | — | Apr 2025 |
Jesse Sebastiani Founding Nelk member; although he left the content collective, interviews and reporting quote Kyle Forgeard saying that Sebastiani was bought out of Nelk but still owns a large equity piece of Happy Dad and remains a shareholder; the size of that holding has not been made public. | Founder | — | Jun 2023 |
Stephen "SteveWillDoIt" Deleonardis YouTuber known as SteveWillDoIt and former core Nelk member; multiple profiles label him a co‑founder or co‑owner of Happy Dad and a key stakeholder in the brand’s business, but no filings or investor databases reveal his exact ownership percentage. | Founder | — | Dec 2024 |
Blue Equity Louisville‑based private equity firm; Mergr records its January 1, 2023 growth‑capital investment into Happy Dad, and PrivateEquityInfo lists Blue Equity as the private‑equity owner, while Blue Equity’s own site shows Happy Dad Hard Seltzer as a current portfolio company; all sources agree its stake is significant but undisclosed. | Institutional | — | Jun 2025 |
Family Fund & Founder Community Consumer‑focused venture fund (F3C); its portfolio and blog, along with Brewbound’s April 29, 2025 coverage, state that The Family Fund & Founder Community made a VC investment into Happy Dad in 2025, with funding databases classifying it as a Seed‑stage minority investor; the percentage ownership is not publicly reported. | Institutional | — | Apr 2025 |
Midnight Venture Partners Venture capital firm whose portfolio and private‑markets databases (including PitchBook/CB‑Insights‑style profiles) list Happy Dad as a portfolio company, characterizing Midnight Venture Partners as a minority equity investor in the brand; transaction terms and percentage ownership remain undisclosed. | Institutional | — | Mar 2025 |
Lakeside Capital Family office investor; CB‑Insights‑style data and PitchBook identify Lakeside Capital as a minority shareholder in Happy Dad across its early funding rounds, but do not publish its ownership percentage or any special rights. | Family | — | Mar 2025 |
Entrepreneur Ventures Venture capital firm listed in private‑company funding databases as a minority investor in Happy Dad’s early financings alongside Blue Equity and other backers; its exact equity stake and investment terms are not disclosed publicly. | Institutional | — | Mar 2024 |
Anti Fund Early‑stage venture fund; PitchBook’s 2025 profile on Happy Dad names Anti Fund among nine investors with a minority position in the company, but provides no visibility into the size or structure of its stake. | Institutional | — | Mar 2025 |
Kalyan Hospitality Virginia‑based hotel owner‑operator; on February 18, 2025 the company announced a “strategic investment” in Happy Dad Seltzers to support expansion across its hotel portfolio, and PitchBook classifies Kalyan as a minority equity investor; financial terms and percentage ownership were not disclosed. | Corporate | — | Feb 2025 |
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