This Week in CPG - MrBeast Goes Busking

Author

CPG WIRE
October 26, 2022

Good Morning, folks. Welcome back to This Week in CPG. Let's get into it...

The Big Story

According to Axios, YouTube star turned CPG entrepreneur MrBeast is looking to raise $150m in funding at an eye-popping $1.5B valuation. Beyond his insanely popular YouTube channels, MrBeast's consumer ventures include the following:

Feastables - a line of chocolate bars that generated over $10m in revenue in its first few months.

MrBeast Burger - a virtual burger joint that has shared over $100m in revenue with its restaurant & cloud kitchen partners.

What's curious about the Axios news is that it's about ongoing fundraising efforts, and not an actual fundraising announcement. Obviously the venture environment has cooled since MrBeast Burger launched in December 2020 and even since Feastables debuted in January, but has it cooled such that a mega-star with various profitable income streams is having difficulty raising?

The arguments for backing MrBeast are quite clear: he has a massive, engaged audience and the proven ability to not only get products to market, but to scale them, seemingly profitably.

The arguments against are just as clear: MrBeast's income streams & future earning potential are tied to fame and relevance. Excuse the excruciatingly painful platitude, but both are fickle and fleeting. The VCs are one slur or scandal away from marking down their investment by 95%.

The pros are a lot more compelling than the cons, in my opinion. At the end of the day, investing in MrBeast has about the same risk profile as backing a typical SaaS startup. The former will probably be a lot more fun, though.

Deals

  • Beatbox, the Austin-based RTD cocktail brand known for their fun flavors and packaging, raised $15m in funding at a $200m valuation (post-money I believe). Beatbox is now sold at 40,000 stores in the U.S. Link

  • Barcelona-based alt protein brand Heura Foods raised $20m from a number of athletes including Ricky Rubio, Sergio Busquets, and Sergi Roberto. Unovis Asset Management also participated. Link

  • Canadian plant-based snack and beverage company Buddha Brands raised $5.25m led by Fondaction, a Quebec-based investment vehicle with over $3B in net assets. Link

  • Scentbird, a subscription perfume service, acquired drift, a purveyor of air fresheners for the home and car. Link

  • PE firm Stride Consumer Partners acquired a minority stake in Patrick Ta Beauty, a prestige beauty brand founded in 2019 by celebrity makeup artist Patrick Ta. Link

  • Spirits giant Diageo launched a $2B SEC-registered bond offering. Diageo has been unusually quiet this year — they've acquired two brands and sold five assets — so perhaps an acquisition spree is on the horizon. Link

  • LOCI, a vegan footwear brand based in London, raised $4.5m from Leonardo DiCaprio and two former Adidas execs, Martin Ott and James Carnes. Link

  • ClearDekho, an affordable eyewear brand & retailer in India, raised $5m led by SphitiCap. Venture Catalysts also participated along with NB Ventures, Dholakia Ventures, and Estrela Venture. Link

  • PE firm CVC Capital Partners is looking to sell its 20% stake in GarudaFood, one of Indonesia's largest snack manufacturers. Hormel Foods might be buying it. Link

What's New...

  • It's been a busy week for Glossier. They launched a collaboration with iconic hot chocolate brand Swiss Miss (link) and a collection with another icon, Olivia Rodrigo (link).

  • Stripes — the menopausal wellness brand from Naomi Watts & biotech firm Amyris — officially launched. Good-looking products, seemingly a high-growth category. Link

  • Blue Bottle Coffee, now a Nestle company, unveiled a Craft Instant Espresso product and the coffee nerds weren't happy about it. Link

  • Non-alc beer pioneer Athletic Brewing showed off its take on the michelada, Chelada Nada. Link

  • Canada's Cove Drinks launched a line of gut-healthy sodas. Link

  •  Bacardi Limited — the owner of Grey Goose, Patron, Bombay Gin, and of course Bacardi Rum — is removing the plastic pourers from all its bottles. It expects to cut 140 tons of plastic annually. Link

  • Scotland's Brewdog launched Bad Beer Vodka, a line of vodkas made from unused beer. Link 

Distribution Quickfire

  • Skin-friendly makeup brand Youthforia launched at Ulta Beauty.

  • Design-forward olive oil brand Graza rolled out at Wegmans.

  • Functional gum & mint brand Neuro is now available at 3,800 Walmart stores.

  • Another skin-friendly makeup brand, RMS Beauty, launched at Thirteen Lune.

  • Gut-healthy soda brand Cove hit shelves at Sobeys.

  • Plant-based dairy brand Spero Foods launched at Fresh Thyme Market.

  • Functional coffee brand Taika is now available at Gelson's in SoCal.

  • Non-alc beer & wine brand Gruvi launched at Target in SoCal, Florida, and Illinois.

Thanks for reading along, folks. See you again on Saturday.

All the best,

Robbie @ CPG Wire