Starday Secures $11M, Lerer Hippeau Closes Ninth Fund 📈

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CPG WIRE
April 10, 2025

GM and Happy Thursday, folks. Here’s what we’re covering this morning:

  • KKR buys Karo Healthcare 🧴

  • Harry’s rebrands as Mammoth 🪒

  • Mary Ruth’s x Liquid Death 🔥

  • Two Spoons launches 🍦

  • Prime Bites lands at 7-Eleven 💪

I’m excited to announce that CPG Wire has partnered with Era VC, a global investor in consumer brands, on a $100K virtual pitch competition for emerging brands. We’ve assembled a great group of judges that includes Jess Hatzis, Claire Cherry, Jonathan Trimble, Ryan Lewendon, Ariana Pergola, and myself.

In addition to a $100K equity investment, the winning brand will also have access to complementary services from And Rising, a leading creative agency, and Giannuzzi Lewendon, the top CPG law firm. If you’re interested, you can apply for the pitch competition here.

Starday Secures $11M 💰

Starday Foods, an AI-driven food innovation company, secured $11 million in a mix of debt and equity funding. The $8 million equity investment was co-led by Slow Ventures and Equal Ventures, while the $3 million credit facility was provided by Silicon Valley Bank.

Starday takes a novel approach to product and brand development. The company uses AI to identify unmet consumer needs in the marketplace, then it develops a range of products and a corresponding brand to take to retail. 

So far they’ve launched four brands:

  • Habeya: a better-for-you cracker brand that’s free of the top 9 allergens

  • Cozumi: a gut-friendly seasoned rice brand

  • All Day: a chickpea-based protein topper for salads, pasta, etc.

  • Gooey: a low-sugar, dairy-free chocolate hazelnut spread

Starday’s newest brand, Habeya, has already secured distribution at Hannaford, Erewhon, and most impressively, Kroger. 

Prior to founding Starday, CEO Chaz Flexman was a partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a co-founder of Pattern Brands, an acquirer of DTC homeware brands. Lena Kwak, formerly Director of R&D at The French Laundry, and Lily Burtis, a former strategist at Gin Lane and Pattern, are also co-founders of Starday Foods. 

The team at Starday Foods is obviously a very capable one, but it will be interesting to see if it’s possible to build four brands simultaneously instead of focusing on one. The sheer time and effort required to build one brand is already enormous, and if Starday Foods can pull off building four, then hats off to them.

I’m rooting for them.

Deals 💰

Mergers & Acquisitions 

  • Actor Taraji P. Henson has acquired full ownership of her beauty brand from Maesa, a leading incubator of talent-led beauty and wellness brands. TPH by Taraji launched in 2020 with an initial focus on hair and scalp care. VIBE

  • KKR is buying Karo Healthcare, a pan-European consumer healthcare company, for around 2.5B EUR. Stockholm-based Karo owns a variety of brands including Lamisil, E45, Nutravita, Proct, Paracet, and others. Over the past five years, Karo has quadrupled sales and expanded distribution to over 90 countries. The seller is EQT, a Swedish investment firm, who acquired a stake in Karo in 2019 before taking the company private in 2022. Financial Times

Fundraising

  • Lerer Hippeau, an investor in early stage consumer and enterprise startups, raised $200M for its ninth fund. Lerer Hippeau is an investor in Glossier, Cake, Cure Hydration, Topicals, Ayoh Foods, and a number of other consumer brands. Business Wire

  • Walker Brothers Beverage Company, a Nashville-based kombucha producer, secured an additional $280K in equity funding from undisclosed investors. The company raised just over $3.6M early last year. SEC

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What’s New 🤩

Apparel, Cosmetics, and Wellness

  • Harry’s Inc. rebranded as Mammoth Brands in order to reflect its growing portfolio of brands. In addition to its namesake personal care brand, Mammoth also owns Flamingo, Lume, and Mando. The combined company generated $835M in revenue and nearly $100M in adjusted EBITDA in 2024. Business Wire

  • One of the best collabs in recent memory has to go to Mary Ruth’s and Liquid Death. The two companies released a co-branded Liquid Nighttime Multimineral supplement. This is a great collab simply because there’s likely very little crossover between their respective customer bases. The new product is available at Walmart, Amazon, and via Mary Ruth’s website. Adweek

  • Kering Beauté has appointed Nathalie Berger-Duquene as the CEO of Creed, the luxury fragrance brand it acquired in 2023 for around $3.8B. Berger-Duquene started her career at LVMH and also worked as an exec at L’Oreal and Estee Lauder. Cosmetics Business

  • GoodOnya Organic Hydration, a purveyor of organic hydration supplements, unveiled a sleek new look. Instagram

Food, Beverage, and Alcohol

  • There’s a new seed oil free certification program for food & beverage brands called Seed Oil Safe. The organization launched with an impressive roster of brands like MALK, NUFS, Fond Bone Broth, Jacob Bar, and a handful of others. The other seed oil certification program, The Seed Oil Free Alliance, launched last year. PR Newswire

  • Two Spoons Ice Cream is a new player in the high-protein ice cream category. The product contains 30g of protein, zero added sugar, and GLP-1-friendly ingredients. The protein ice cream category is getting crowded — Protein Pints, Smearcase, and Natty Ice Cream are all battling for consumer attention — but Two Spoons stands out with its novel flavors. Two Spoons

  • Junkless Foods, the granola bar brand that Mike Repole acquired in late 2023, just launched a new bar line called Junkless Drizzled. Two flavors are available: Birthday Cake and Berries & Cream. They look great. Food Business News

  • Fast-growing canned wine brand Archer Roose released its first new red varietal in five years: Pinot Noir. Instagram

  • Feastables now sources 100% of its cocoa from Fairtrade Certified Cooperatives. This is a particularly impressive (and expensive) feat given its volume. PR Newswire

  • Arkansas-based ethical egg producer Happy Egg expanded its product portfolio with the launch of pasture-raised eggs. PR Newswire

  • Maker’s Mark Distillery, owned by Suntory Global Spirits, launched Star Hill Farm Whisky, its first non-bourbon product. The bottle is a beauty and will retail for $100. The Spirits Business

Data 🖥️

  • Simply Good Foods — the owner of Quest Nutrition, OWYN, and Atkins — had a strong Q2. Net sales increased over 15% to $359M while net income jumped nearly 11% to over $36M. The 36-year-old Atkins brand continues to lose momentum but Quest and OWYN growth offset said decline. Simply Good Foods acquired OWYN in 2024 for $280M which looks more and more like a steal. OWYN’s e-commerce sales increased 42% while MULO+C growth jumped by 56%. Simply Good Foods

Distribution News 🚚

  • High-protein baked goods brand Prime Bites launched at 7-Eleven.

  • RTD protein shake brand Nurri launched at Sam’s Club.

  • Elmhurst 1925 went nationwide at Whole Foods Market.

  • Plant-based meat brand Tindle launched at Kroger.

  • Oddball Jelly Snacks is launching nationwide at Sprouts.