Smashmallow is ready to move beyond its marshmallow roots. The snack brand announced today the close of a minority round of funding by CPG venture firm, Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG), in part, to support the launch of a line of low-sugar gummies. It’s a move that Sebastiani said will allow the brand to begin to build a larger platform.

Guacamole and hummus producer Hope Foods believes American consumers are ready for a new kind of dip. The Colorado-based brand announced today the launch of a line of Cashew and Almond Dips, designed to offer shoppers creative, plant-based snacking options with clean ingredient lists.

Earlier this week, Inc. released the 2019 edition of the Inc. 5000 list — a ranking of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S. This year’s list featured dozens of natural food and beverage companies, showing the industry’s increasing impact on the American economy.

Having made breakfast, lunch and dinner a little easier, direct-to-consumer frozen food maker Daily Harvest is turning its attention to snack time. The company announced today the launch of the Bites collection, its first ready-to-eat product.

Snack brand Biena announced today the close of an $8 million round of funding. “It just made a lot of sense for us to go out and raise money to take advantage of the growth opportunities in front of us with the brand platform,” Founder Poorvi Patodia told NOSH about the round. The brand will use the capital for sales, marketing and innovation — possibly expanding beyond its current focus on chickpeas.

Paleo-focused Hu Master Holdings, owner of Hu Kitchen and Products, announced today that Sir Kensington’s co-founder and former CEO Mark Ramadan has joined the snack brand as CEO. Ramadan assumes the role from former PepsiCo executive Rita Hudetz who departed the company earlier this month. Co-founders Jason Karp and Jordan Brown told NOSH Ramadan brings a skill set that will help the brand scale to its next phase of growth.

Venture firm PowerPlant Ventures announced yesterday the close of its second fund. At over three times the size of its predecessor, Fund II, which closed at $165 million, will allow the company to further refine its deal structure, co-founder and partner Mark Rampolla told NOSH. He added that the firm “[wants] to change this mindset that capital only cares about return.”

Meatless burger brand Impossible Foods is two steps closer to entering supermarket retail following FDA approval of a key ingredient and a new co-packer. The brand told NOSH it plans to enter retail in September.

Tyson is gearing up to launch a line of functional snacks later this year under a new brand called Pact. The line will launch with four varieties of Snack Bites — Gut Instinct (cranberry kombucha with probiotics), Gut Ahead (turmeric ginger with prebiotics), Vibe On (matcha blueberry “energizing”) and Glow With It (cocoa/coconut with collagen). Each bag of bites will be sold refrigerated, but last at ambient temperature for up to a week.

Snack brand Bobo’s is ready for its next phase of growth courtesy of the close of a round of capital investment and the opening of a new production facility, CEO TJ McIntyre told NOSH. The goal is to eventually sell the company, and the raises are necessary steps, McIntyre told NOSH.