Ripple Raises $60 Million for New Innovation, Channel Expansion

Plant-based food and beverage brand Ripple Foods today announced it has secured $60 million in a Series E funding round which the company plans to use to accelerate its product innovation pipeline and expand into new categories and channels.

The round was led by Rage Capital, Ajax Strategies and S2G Venture, with participation from OurCrowd, GV, Prelude Ventures, Euclidean, Tao Capital Partners and Fall Line Capital. The round follows a $55.8 million funding round closed in October 2020, according to SEC filings, and brings the company’s total capital raised to date to over $225 million.

“Our investment with Ripple supports its continued growth and success in the milk aisle and its upcoming innovation in new product categories,” Chuck Templeton, managing director of S2G Ventures, said in a press release. “Ripple is a clear leader in plant-based dairy alternatives, and we are excited to support this team of proven industry veterans as they continue to scale the business.”

Launched in 2016 with a line of pea protein-based milks, the company has since expanded its beverage offerings to include protein shakes, creamers and kids milk, and last year debuted a line of pea protein-based frozen desserts.

The company was led by co-founders Adam Lowry and Neil Renninger until October 2019, when former ConAgra and Pepsico executive Laura Flanagan took over as CEO. Since assuming leadership, Flanagan’s focus has been on revenue growth through distribution, marketing and innovation as well as optimized supply chain and operations, according to a press release.

“Ripple’s growth is outpacing the category by 3x, and we are well-positioned to further accelerate that growth,” Flanagan said in a press release. “[The funding] allows us to further achieve our mission of making plant-based foods that are better for people, and better for the planet, on an even larger scale.”

Ripple plans to use the new funding to accelerate its innovation as it moves into new categories. The company’s latest beverage release, a multiserve kids milk line which debuted in February, followed the launch of a kid-friendly line sold in 8 oz. milk boxes in 2017. Last year Ripple grew its presence in food with the introduction of a 5-SKU frozen dessert line, currently the company’s only food offering after discontinuing a Greek yogurt alternative line in 2017 (the line was relaunched in 2019 and discontinued again). The company also previously marketed a protein powder line and plant-based sour cream.

The capital will also go toward expansion into new channels and geographies, according to the press release. Ripple’s products are currently sold at retailers in the U.S. and Canada across the natural, conventional and convenience channels, with partners including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Sprouts and 7-Eleven. The company also debuted its own direct-to-consumer site last year, which sells its full beverage portfolio.

In the plant-based milk category, which brought in $2.5 billion last year according to the Plant Based Food Association, Ripple stands out from most other alt-milk players due to its use of pea protein as the base of its milk while the majority rely on oat, almond or soy. However, competition has begun to crop up as more innovative players have entered the plant-based milk space recently. Most notable among these is Latin American company NotCo, which produces alt-milks made from less traditional ingredients like chicory, coconut, peas, cabbage and pineapple. Like Ripple, the company is also well-funded, closing a $235 million Series D round in July that brought its valuation to $1.5 billion as it too looks to expand to global markets. Plant-based food and beverage company Good Karma also introduced Plantmilk, a milk alternative product made with oat, flax and peas, in May.