Investment

Vega could be in for some retooling. Last week private equity fund WM Partners acquired the performance nutrition brand from previous owner Danone. The deal is part of the firm’s strategy to acquire synergistic brands and then “build operational excellence” in order to better position them for sale to a strategic buyer.

Protein remains a major force of attraction for consumers, as is evidenced today by the sale of protein enhanced baking mix and snack brand Kodiak Cakes to private equity firm L Catterton.

Just nine months after raising $8 million in funding, plant-based meat brand Daring Foods announced last week that it had closed a subsequent $40 million in funding. The round was led by D1 Capital Partners with existing investors Maveron and Palm Tree Crew, along with musician Drake, also taking part.

Vitamin “bites” brand GEM wants to make the store supplement aisle more tasty and transparent. The company, which makes functional, granola-esque bites, announced today it had raised $7.5 million in funding last month, an investment the largely direct-to-consumer brand will use to help launch into physical stores and expand its product line.

For organic egg brand Pete and Gerry’s, it was time to expand the flock. The company announced last week that it had sold the majority of its business to Butterfly, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm. The deal will allow the company to scale into adjacent categories and expand distribution.

Looking to straddle the confection and nutritional bar categories, bar brand Mid-Day Squares announced this week the closing of a $4 million funding round that will allow the outspoken Canadian company to expand further into the U.S. market. The four-year-old company expects to have $10 million in revenue for 2021, its co-founders said.

Having already made the jump from operational consulting to investing, the principals behind Siddhi Capital this week filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a proposed special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

Our special subscribers-only Retailer Speed Dating will return on Thursday, April 15. The 1:1 virtual pitch and networking event will take place from 3PM to 5PM ET, bringing together retailers and up-and-coming food and beverage brands.

Prelude Growth Partners, a New York City-based fund, announced last week the close of their second fund at $250 million dollars. The majority of the fund’s limited partners also backed Prelude’s first $85 million fund in 2018, co-founder and partner Neda Daneshzadeh said.

AF Ventures has joined the SPAC club. Together with investment groups Scharf Brothers and Mistral Equity Partners, the CPG venture fund once known as Accel Foods has combined forces with two other firms to launch a publicly traded “blank check” company to target more consumer brands.