OatOat

OatOat is a Chinese plant-based protein drink brand founded in May 2020, positioning itself as a mid-to-high-end product with a "clean label" philosophy — its slogan is "only ingredients you can understand," and its oat milk contains just water, oats, vegetable oil, and salt . The company launched in September 2020 and quickly hit one million RMB in sales within two months, becoming the top domestic oat milk brand on Tmall during that year's Singles' Day .

The brand's strategy emphasized heavy offline channel expansion rather than online advertising, securing placement in 8,000 retail points including FamilyMart and Bianlifeng within its first five months, while also developing a B2B business supplying oat milk to specialty coffee shops and tea chains . Founder Sue, who conceived of the brand after observing oat milk's potential in Sweden, focused on "gut cleansing" as a functional selling point to target young consumers' desire for weight management .

OatOat raised tens of millions of RMB in a Series A round in March 2021 led by 5Y Capital, with follow-on from existing investors Huachuang Capital and IMO Ventures, bringing it to a third round since launch . The funding was earmarked for offline channel expansion and brand building . 5Y Capital investment manager David Wu described the bet as conviction that Sue's "user-demand-driven" perspective, unburdened by industry muscle memory, gave her a shot at defining a new product category in what was then a nascent market in China .