Erin Cabrey

In this week’s investment-focused Checkout, Serenity Kids raises $3 million to add to its executive team and launch new products; TerraCycle closes a $25 million funding round to grow reusable CPG platform Loop; Gotham Greens brings in $87 million to expand operations; and My/Mo Mochi secures investment from Bregal Partners.

After celebrating a decade in business this fall, which consisted of a “series of small victories,” according to founder and CEO Starr Edwards, Bitchin’ Sauce is taking on a new challenge. Eyeing growth beyond its core sauce line, the almond dip brand is targeting the convenience store channel with its new Bitchin’ Snacks line, which rolled out at 7-Eleven locations across Southern California last month after an initial launch through the retailer’s Sips & Snacks program.

Chicago-based food tech company Nature’s Fynd announced this week it has raised $45 million in funding and has added four new food industry veterans as the company gears up to bring its animal-free meat and dairy alternatives made from fungi protein to market next year.

Using his past experience building a brand catering to special diets, Fody Foods founder and CEO Steven Singer has set his sights on promoting gut health and making comfort foods accessible to consumers suffering with digestive distress. To reach this goal, the Montreal-based gut-friendly food brand has raised C$8.5 million (approximately $6.6 million USD), it announced today, to support expanded distribution and new marketing initiatives for its low FODMAP product line of sauces, dips and snacks.

As consumers look for more affordable and healthy meal options as well as convenient delivery methods, mission-driven food company Everytable aims to rival the convenience of shelf-stable packaged foods and drive-through burgers by making its fresh prepared meals accessible to both affluent and underserved communities.

In this week’s Checkout: Forbes names food innovators in Food & Drink 30 Under 30 List; Singapore approves the sale of Eat Just’s cell-based meat; and Nestle announces new sustainability commitments to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Last week plant-based brand Upton’s Naturals and the Plant Based Food Association (PBFA) continued their fight to halt a new Oklahoma labeling law for meat alternatives which went into effect in November.

KIND announced today an agreement to acquire soft-baked snack bar maker Nature’s Bakery. While terms of the transaction were not disclosed, sources told The New York Times that the deal valued Nature’s Bakery at $400 million. The acquisition comes just a few weeks after KIND itself was acquired by snack company Mars.

Los Angeles-based keto-friendly protein bar brand Keto Krisp is gearing up for growth as it aims to bring keto products to the “underserved” supermarket channel. The company, which added Barnana co-founder Matt Clifford as CEO earlier this year, is rolling out an umbrella brand, CanDo, to connect with consumers through a message of empowerment with a focus on co-founder Adam Bremen’s personal journey with the keto diet.

According to a 2018 report by the Harvard Business Review, Asian Americans are the least likely racial group to be promoted to management and C-suite roles. This statistic was the impetus for the 2018 launch of Gold House, a nonprofit collective of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) leaders, a group that encompasses 50 ethnicities, which aims to forge professional and familial bonds among its members and use those relationships to promote economic success, societal representation and unity in the Asian community.