Is BetterBrand Crashing?

The rumor mill is swirling again, and this time it’s revolving around low-carb bread maker BetterBrand. The company behind Better Bagel, Better Bun and Better Hawaiian Roll has taken in about $10 million since it launched in early 2021; most recently it announced a $6 million raise on the back of a $170 million pre-money valuation.

Founder Aimee Yang was touted by Forbes as one of only about 150 female founders to have ever raised a Series A over $5 million.

Now, the business is taking fire online as its website appears to have been disabled and customers have taken to social platforms to express complaints over unfulfilled orders and a lack of communication.

As recently as Sept. 29, the company’s website was working, but now a Shopify alert comes up on the homepage saying “the store has been disabled.” Yet, despite this wrinkle, BetterBrand’s Instagram page has continued to post marketing videos as recently as this weekend.

Replies on many of the company’s most recent posts as well as a slew on Reddit tell a story of frustrated customers.

“Thanks for stealing my money, never shipping my order and shutting down your website but continuing to post like nothing happened… a little accountability would be nice,” wrote one person in the comment section of a post this past week.

Along with the enticing promise of a low-carb bagel, the company’s profile rose with the addition of its high-profile investors.

BetterBrand has taken investment from restaurant entrepreneur Sean Thomas, actress Emmy Rossum, Venture for America’s CEO Dorie Smith, Alexis Ohanian’s VC firm Seven Seven Six, Cruise founder Kyle Vogt, actor Patrick Schwarzenegger and Soma Capital. Late last year, the company also announced investment from electronic music DJ Zedd, who collaborated on a LTO Jalapeño Cheddar bagel.

The brand originally launched direct-to-consumer but quickly moved into retail in the U.S., announcing it was in over 2,000 doors late last year. Yang moved from Los Angeles to London last October as she oversaw the company’s expansion into the U.K. market, where it was locked into a deal with Whole Foods (its products are currently unavailable on the grocer’s online store). On Thrive Market in the U.S. the products are still available to order but are out-of-stock at Target.

This isn’t the first time consumers have complained over BetterBrand’s lack of transparency. The company also experienced pushback in its early days when it struggled with shipping issues that impacted the freshness of its products.

Yang and the company did not respond to requests for comment on this story.