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The Sourmilk Co-Founders Tangle with an AI-generated copycat surfaced weeks before the yogurt startup’s planned Whole Foods launch. Co-founders Kiki Couchman and Elan Halpern were preparing to expand distribution when a customer alerted them to Cupful, a new brand whose online identity closely resembled theirs, Inc. reported.
The company plans to bring its high-protein, probiotic-packed yogurt cups to more than 60 Whole Foods locations in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The company also expects to reach more than 50 Target stores across the Northeast and Midwest next month, according to the report.
Sourmilk Co-Founders Tangle Over Branding
Couchman received an email about Cupful the night before the founders began discussing a response. Cupful’s website, social accounts, branding, and packaging looked nearly identical to Sourmilk’s. The report said Cupful appeared to have no actual product or distribution at the time.
The visual similarities extended across the brands. Both used arched white bubble lettering against royal blue packaging. Cupful’s website scrolled over cow illustrations that appeared lifted from Sourmilk’s site, and its Instagram posts mirrored Sourmilk product photos and hand-drawn illustrations.
The packaging was designed by Charlotte Cooper, and Grace Ann Leadbetter photographed its products. Couchman and Halpern learned that Cupful’s images were generated by artificial intelligence. The article did not report that Cupful had launched a product.
Cupful was founded by Shreya Goyal, a student at Harvard Kennedy School. Goyal told Inc. she had asked a large language model to help create branding for her yogurt company. She said she was unaware of Sourmilk until people raised the similarities.
After learning about the resemblance, Goyal apologized to Couchman, according to the report. Goyal said Cupful’s website and social pages had been deleted and that she took corrective action once she recognized the similarity. She told Inc. she planned to relaunch with branding rooted in the company’s promise.
Founders Weigh Response as Launch Nears
Couchman posted a video showing side-by-side comparisons of the brands. She said Sourmilk had worked with artists to build its identity and objected to seeing that work used without compensation. More than 500 Sourmilk fans commented within a few hours, with some urging legal action.
The company’s Instagram page had built a following of nearly 16,000 since 2024, while Couchman told Inc. she had 31,000 followers. She said public brand-building carries a risk of copycats. The report described the video as an effort to channel her frustration into a content opportunity.
The founders did not want to pursue a legal route. Couchman said the possibility of recourse was uncertain because Goyal planned to launch Cupful in India. The report did not describe a legal filing or an agreement between the companies.
The episode comes as other entrepreneurs seek different paths to build and fund companies. The Sensori founders raised nearly $1 million from individual investors, while the Woven Impact Network program combined financial aid with business skills. The Her Startup Cohort 2.0 accelerator offers another example of structured support for founders.
Couchman said she belongs to a group chat with entrepreneurs discussing similar copycats and is especially concerned for direct-to-consumer brands. Sourmilk, she noted, has a defense those businesses may not have: its place on store shelves.
Sourmilk is also seeking visibility across AI search tools, according to Couchman. She said she wants ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity to name Sourmilk when consumers ask about yogurts that may help improve gut health. Couchman said Sourmilk relies on AI for some operational tasks, while criticizing what she called “lazy AI.”
The planned retail expansion is the next concrete step for the company, while Cupful’s pages remain deleted, according to the report. Goyal said she intends to relaunch with new branding. The report leaves Sourmilk’s rollout and Cupful’s proposed return as the companies’ next public developments.
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