Ryan Trahan-Backed Joyride Raises $30M to Shake Up Sour Candy Scene

Creator-backed candy company Joyride (formerly Project 7) has raised a $30 million round, per a Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday; Trevor Nelson, founder and partner at Aria Growth Partners, was named on the form, but Joyride could not be reached prior to publication to confirm whether Aria led the round.

The sour candy company relaunched in February 2024 with a new name and the backing of YouTube star Ryan Trahan as chief creative officer. It now sells an 11SKU line of low-sugar gummy candies such as sour strips, ropes and wedges as well as a “crunchy and chewy” gummy busters format.

Prior to Trahan’s involvement, Joyride last raised an undisclosed sum of Series A funding in 2022, rebranding to its new moniker alongside the announcement. That relaunch kicked off its journey into the better-for-you candy space as it aimed to innovate offerings with 80% less sugar than conventional alternatives.

That move also brought a discontinuation of all prior products aside from sour strips. In 2024, the company was primarily focused on direct-to-consumer sales, but rolled out its sour strips nationwide to 1,300 Target stores. Since then, it has significantly expanded its retail footprint adding placements across natural, conventional and drug via retailers including Whole Foods, CVS and Safeway. The products are also available on ecommerce platforms like Amazon and Instacart.

Online creators are no stranger to CPG, and, despite the challenges still persisting within the industry’s funding environment, these companies often garner high valuations out of the gate – take fellow YouTuber MrBeast’s Feastables (valued at $5 billion, as of earlier this year) as a key case study. However, others like Logan Paul’s beverage brand PRIME, valued at around $3.2 billion back in 2023, have failed to maintain momentum in the marketplace.

Joyride could be an outlier within this dynamic considering the current consumer interest in sour gummy candy products as well as broader sentiments, supported by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, concerning the use of synthetic food dyes, which are primarily used in confections.

Late last month, better-for-you sour candy brand Final Boss Sour also secured funding to accelerate its online business, locking in $4 million from parent company Science Inc. The news also comes on the heels of Sour Strips’ acquisition by Hershey late last year for an undisclosed sum. At the time, the snack and confections giant said it was excited to “relentlessly accelerate” its growth within the category.