Daring Foods Raises $65 Million, Launches in Walmart
Plant-based meat brand Daring Foods announced the close of a $65 million Series C funding round today in tandem with its launch into 3,000 Walmart stores.
The funding round, its third over the past year, was led by Founders Fund alongside existing investor D1 Capital Group. Tennis star Naomi Osaka, NFL quarterback Cameron Newton, DJ Steve Aoki and Tiger Global founder Chase Coleman also participated. The funding follows a $40 million investment closed in May led by D1 Capital Partners, which also included musician Drake, and an $8 million round in September 2020. In total, Daring has raised $120 million since its founding in 2018.
Mackay told NOSH in May that the brand was focused on growing distribution of its plant-based chicken products across retail and foodservice, as well as increasing its headcount. The company grew from having only 20 staff members a year ago to 50 in the spring, and has since expanded to 60 team members.
“[We’re at] sort of an inflection point of what we needed to do to capitalize on becoming a market leader in chicken,” Mackay said in May.
The new funding makes Daring’s plant-based chicken “more accessible than ever” as it supports the company’s retail expansion deeper into the conventional channel. In pursuit of this goal, the company previously dropped the price of its 8 oz. pouches from $8.99 to $6.99.
Walmart will carry all four varieties of its soy protein-based chicken pieces — Original, Lemon & Herb, Cajun and Breaded. With the new distribution, Darling is now sold in roughly 6,000 retailers nationwide, including placements in Kroger, Sprouts, Wegmans and Whole Foods, as well as online marketplaces like Thrive Market, Imperfect Foods and Gopuff.
With this news the company has surpassed its prior goal to be in 5,000 stores by year’s end, as Justin Neal, the brand’s head of retail, shared last month. While the brand has also found success in the natural channel, debuting in Whole Foods last month, Neal said the brand sees “tremendous opportunity” in the conventional channel.
Since partnering with distributor Dot Foods in January, the company has also been increasing its foodservice presence. This week, it partnered with Los Angeles plant-based fast casual restaurant Sugar Taco, selling Daring Fried Chicken Tacos through a co-branded food truck. Last week, its items were added to menus at Beauty & Essex, a restaurant and lounge with locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York City, and Groot Hospitality restaurants in Miami. It also debuted three limited edition meals with Sun Basket last month.
Daring is among several plant-based brands offering protein types and form factors beyond burgers that have sparked investor interest this month. Last week, Abbot’s Butcher announced it had secured $7 million, while No Evil Foods also recently announced new financing from Big Idea Ventures.
