Protein Bar Brand David Closes $75M Series A, Buys Ingredient Supplier

Peter Rahal’s new protein bar brand David has closed a $75 million Series A round and taken a step towards vertical integration with the acquisition of Epogee, one of its ingredient suppliers.

The new tranche of funding was led by Greenoaks, with participation from Valor Equity Partners.

David previously raised $10 million prior to its launch in September in a seed round led by Rahal with additional funding from Valor Siren Ventures, Peter Attia, M.D., and wellness podcaster and neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.

Now available in eight varieties, each David bar contains 28 grams of protein, 150 calories and zero sugar.

“We’re building tools that make it easier to eat well without compromise,” said Rahal in a statement. “This funding allows us to scale faster and stay focused on our mission of providing solutions to support and improve people’s health and well-being.”

One key cog in Rahal’s bar brand has been its plant-based fat alternative EPG, manufactured by ingredient provider Epogee. The food tech business makes the GMO-free modified plant-based oil which reduces calories from fat.

Acquiring Epogee will allow David to scale and control its supply chain so it can “move faster,” Rahal said. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Bucking clean label trends, David has been criticized for its use of modified ingredients that are not easily recognizable to consumers. Rahal – whose former brand, RXBAR, tapped into the Paleo diet trend – contends that David is “not here to make another snack” but to “advance nutrition.” The brand’s mission is to “remove unnecessary calories and sugar” and replace them with “high-quality protein,” he said.

Moving quickly, David is in over 3,000 retail locations and expects to surpass $100 million in revenue in its first year of operation, the company said in a press release.