# Garrett Waggoner

> Garrett Waggoner is the co-founder and CEO of Cirkul, the Tampa-based hydration company whose reusable bottle and flip-dial flavor cartridges turned a college locker-room frustration into a business valued at $1 billion. A former Dartmouth safety who played professional football in the CFL and worked as a car valet to bootstrap the idea, Waggoner built Cirkul into a roughly $378M-revenue, 800-person operation by insisting on owning its own manufacturing.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Cirkul
- **Organizations:** Cirkul, Winnipeg Blue Bombers (CFL), Dartmouth College Big Green
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Undergraduate; played football (safety/defensive back), Dartmouth College
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Cirkul to a $1 billion valuation, Built in-house manufacturing, investing $100M+ to internalize processes like shipping and flavor batching, All-Ivy League First Team defensive back (twice) at Dartmouth

## Career timeline

- **2010** — Meets co-founder Andy Gay as teammates on Dartmouth's football team
- **2012-2013** — Named All-Ivy League First Team at defensive back two straight years; co-recipient of the John M. Manley '40 Award
- **2013** — Finishes college career having played 42 games, more than any Big Green player ever
- **2014** — Plays professional football in the CFL for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers while developing the Cirkul idea
- **2015** — Cirkul launches; Waggoner works as a car valet in the offseason to fund the business
- **2016** — Cirkul formally co-founded with Andy Gay
- **2018** — Cirkul reaches retail shelves; co-founders rent a 4,000 sq ft Tampa warehouse to assemble cartridges themselves
- **2022** — Raises $70M Series C at a $1 billion pre-money valuation
- **2025** — Company reported at roughly $378M annual revenue and ~800 employees; Waggoner shares entrepreneurship advice in national press

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Cirkul to a $1 billion valuation
- Built in-house manufacturing, investing $100M+ to internalize processes like shipping and flavor batching
- All-Ivy League First Team defensive back (twice) at Dartmouth
- Played a record 42 career games for the Dartmouth Big Green
- Co-recipient of the John M. Manley '40 Award
- Played professional football in the CFL for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers

## Latest updates

- **2025-02** — Featured by CNBC on Cirkul's journey from college football idea to a $1 billion flavored-water company.
- **2025-06** — Shared his No. 1 piece of advice for entrepreneurs in CNBC's Make It - interpret all advice through your own lens.

## Links

- Website: https://drinkcirkul.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/garrett-waggoner

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/garrett-waggoner
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-12