Investment

PeaTos yesterday announced the close of a $7 million funding round, which included a $3 million convertible note from 2019. The round was led by financial services firm Jackson Springs Management Partners and venture capital firm Connetic Ventures, with participation from returning investors Apu Mody and Carlos Barroso, along with an undisclosed private hedge fund and former NBA basketball player Tracy McGrady.

As the assets of dairy conglomerate Dean Foods continued to be divided up following the company’s bankruptcy filing, plant-based dairy brand Good Karma announced today that it has repurchased the majority of the company once owned by Dean and also closed a “significant” amount of capital through new strategic partners.

This week Covet PR, a public relations firm focused on CPG and wellness, announced it had been acquired by digital marketing company Power Digital. The firm, which was founded by Sara Brooks in 2014, will now be known as the Covet Consumer Business Unit, with Brooks taking on the role of President.

Meat snack brand Tanka is looking to take a bigger bite of the category. Native American Natural Foods (NANF), its parent company, last week announced it had closed a $2.5 million round of funding, led by socially conscious investor Candide Group on behalf of donor-advised fund Libra Social Investment Fund (which contributed $500,000). The raise came to help the brand in an ongoing struggle to retain shelf space in competition with other, often better-financed, brands in the category.

Refrigerated chocolate bar brand Honey Mama’s announced this week it has closed a $5.8 million round of funding that will go towards supporting the brand’s expansion beyond the natural channel via sales, marketing and innovation efforts.

Shaka Tea, a Hawaii-based maker of ready-to-drink and bagged tea products, has raised $2.3 million in a funding round led by farming company Mahi Pono, bringing the brand’s total financing to $4.1 million.

Investors are banking on a plant-based ingredient that behaves like egg whites — with potential use across a broad range of food and beverage categories. B2B food tech startup Plantible announced this week the close of a $4.6M seed round.

Keto-focused snack brand Fat Snax will have more support as it pushes further afield into brick and mortar retailers this year. The company announced today that it has raised $4.5 million from venture group Boulder Food Group (BFG), along with investment firm BIGR and some individual investors.

It’s not just what you sell that makes or breaks a brand, but where you sell it. That’s the thesis behind venture firm Coefficient Capital, which last week announced it had raised $170 million for its first fund. Coefficient’s two founding partners include Franklin Isacson, formerly of Verlinvest and UBS, and technology adviser and investor Andrew Goletka

Over the past two weeks, a series of emergency acts have increased the availability of loans to small business owners during the coronavirus crisis. But some growing food and beverage companies are concerned that they will be left out of a new set of loans designed to lessen the impact of the coronavirus crisis because they are backed by investment funds.