Voyage Foods Nets New $22M Investment
Food technology company Voyage Foods ended 2023 with a hefty new investment. The Oakland, California-based company brought in nearly $22 million in a round that included new capital from previous investors Valor Equity Partners, Horizons Ventures, UBS O’Connor and Level One Fund.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission form D filed on December 29 the $21.9 million is part of a $30 million round Voyage is hoping to secure. Since launching in 2020, the company has raised over $41 million over two previous rounds including $36 million in May 2022.
Founded in 2020 by Adam Maxwell, a food scientist and former product developer for molecular spirits brand Endless West, Voyage Foods’ goal is to fix and “future proof” the food system by finding new ways to make popular food items like nut butters, chocolate and coffee.
The company’s first retail product, Peanut-Free Spread, was launched in June 2022 as an upcycled alternative to nut butters that is also safe from the “Big Nine” allergens (milk, eggs, nuts, fish, crustaceans, shellfish, wheat, soy and sesame). Voyage Foods added a hazelnut-free substitute for chocolate spreads like Nutella using the company’s proprietary cacao-less chocolate las August. In October, the company announced that its retail products were in over 1,600 stores including distribution in Sprouts and select Walmart locations.
Voyage has positioned itself as an environmentally sustainable and allergen-friendly ingredient supplier as well. The company makes a bean-less coffee using chickpeas, rice hulls and green tea-derived caffeine as well as a cocoa-free chocolate for foodservice and private label.
Along with its positioning in private label manufacturing, the company is also finding space partnering with other food makers to bring some of its innovation to co-branded products. Rudi’s Bakery is using Voyage Foods’ Peanut-Free Spread in its new frozen innovation, an Uncrustables-like Sandos product.
