Daily Crunch Snags $4 Million in Series A
Daily Crunch has scooped up $4 million in a Series A funding round led by Launch Tennessee with participation from various strategic investors. The Nashville-based snack maker plans to use the capital to support expanded retail distribution, increased production capacity, innovation and marketing efforts.
COO Dan Stephenson described the fundraising as “a mix of an angel round and a venture round” including retail and food industry leaders and founders. Lead backer Launch Tennessee, a public-private partnership that supports entrepreneurship and economic development in the state, previously invested in the company’s seed round.
“As a consumer packaged goods company, we’re very aware of the climate right now and how it’s really difficult to get fundraising, and we had to really think outside the box,” co-founder Laurel Orley told Nosh.
Founded in 2020, Daily Crunch markets a line of snack mixes featuring sprouted nuts that are made using a patented process and are more nutritious and crunchier than raw or roasted nuts, according to the company. The products are available nationwide at Target, Meijer, Erewhon and CVS, in addition to airports, hotel snack bars and corporate pantries. Flavors include Nashville Hot, Dill Pickle, Cacao & Sea Salt and more.
“We’re growing rapidly. We’re going to double again in 2025, and so there’s definitely going to be a need for working capital,” Stephenson told Nosh. “We’re also going to increase the size of the team. So we’ve been lean and mean for a while, with three, four full-time people, and we’ve hired some awesome people to fill key roles in the organization” across operations, sales and marketing.
In addition to the funding, Daily Crunch formed a board of directors that includes Nancy Pak, former CEO of Tate’s Bake Shop and president of North America Ventures at Mondelez International; Steven Barr, who previously led PwC’s Global and U.S. Consumer Markets practice; and Matt Jonna, co-founder and CEO of Plum Market.
Daily Crunch is one of the nation’s fastest-growing private food companies, notching 1,547% growth over a three-year period, according to the Inc. 5000 annual ranking. The company had $2.6 million in sales last year, and sales were projected to reach $5.5 million in 2024, according to Paperboy Ventures..
“[This was] a year of building and getting into these retailers that we’ve for so long wanted to get into… and next year is also going to be about building velocity, continuing to build that relationship with the consumer by telling our story so they know who we are and why they want to purchase us,” Orley said.
