The Consumer Roundup #45
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Hey Friends,
For all the Americans that read – I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. For all the brands that read, I hope you have the best BFCM ever. I’m excited to spend time catching up with family and cooking a green bean casserole. There won’t be another issue of this newsletter this week, but we will be back on track on Tuesday.
Coming up
📆 🥂 Beverage Webinar – As I mentioned last week, I’ll be moderating a webinar with Manufactured on November 28th from 12-1pm PST about how to scale beverage brands from an operations perspective in today’s market. We’re featuring Emily Heintz, Founder of Séchey; Trey Lockerbie, Co-Founder of Better Booch; and Sallie Jian, Director, Head of Ventures North America at Diageo; and Elliott Cohen from Ritual Zero Proof.
RSVP Here
This webinar is produced by Manufactured. Manufactured helps brands with inventory financing and optimizing their COGs. If you’re a growing brand and looking for inventory financing as your expand, feel free to reach out to me.
🚀🚀Diageo Accelerator for technology startups – Here’s an opportunity to partner alongside 1 of the largest global luxury brands. Why apply?
Equity-free
Remote
Mentorship
Fortune 500 exposure
Potential pilot contract with Diageo.
Who should apply? Technology startups that will complement Diageo brands in creating a better consumer experience. Series A to growth stage. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, Apply ASAP Here. Deadline is November 24).
On to the fundraising update –
Consumer Technology
Crisp, the Netherlands-based grocery next day delivery company, raised $38.3 million from Target Global, Keen Venture Partners, Bookmakers Investments, Timeless Investments and Strikwerda Investments - Sifted
Edamama, the ecommerce retailer that sells parent and baby products, raised a Series A+ round, pushing its total raised to $35 million - Tech in Asia
Upway, a French marketplace that refurbishes and resells ebikes, raised $30 million Series B led by Korelya Capital. Upway recently expanded to the U.S. - TechCrunch
Haut.AI, which created AI platform SkinGPT that helps skincare brands provide skin testing and build interactive product recommendations for consumers on e-commerce platforms, raised $2.1 million in from LongeVC and Grupo Boticarios’ VC arm - Global Cosmetic Industry
Pricepally, a Nigerian ecommerce grocery store that sells fresh produce and packaged goods sourced directly from farmers and manufacturers, raised $1.3 million from Samurai Incubate, SOSV, ELEA, Hi2 Global, Chui Ventures and ex-Unilever executive David Mureithi - TechCrunch
Consumer Products / Inventory Based Businesses
Cumulus Coffee Company, the single serve pod-based cold coffee machine, raised $20.3 million in seed round led by Valor Siren Ventures and Valor Equity Partners, with participation from former Starbucks CEO Howard Shultz - Daily Coffee News
Odele, a performance-focused clean hair care brand, raised an undisclosed amount from Stride Consumer Partners. Odele projects it will pass $30 million in revenue for 2023 - Beauty Independent
Spirited Brands Holdings, Inc., who is launching two low-alcohol beverage brands, Soké and Soula in 2024, raised $4.5 million in a seed round - BevNet
Truff, the truffle-infused hot sauce brand, raised an undisclosed amount from Kim Kardashian’s private equity fund SKKY Partners - Weny
Nicole Bryl Skincare, the cosmetics brand that was founded by former celebrity makeup artist Nicole Bryl, raised an undisclosed seed round from DRA Family Office - PR Newswire
Creator Economy
Munch, the Israeli-based AI- powered social media content creation and management platform, raised $7.2 million seed round led by A* Capital, with participation from Liquid2, Cardumen Capital and Remagine Ventures - PR Newswire
Restaurant Technology
Malou, the AI-powered platform that helps restaurants build loyalty with customers thereby increasing their sales, raised $10 million led by henQ, Bleu Capital, Bertrand Jelensperger (founder of The Fork), Jim Texier (former CPO of Lightspeed), as well as several restaurant clients - PR Newswire
Developing Stories
Carlyle Group is exploring a sale of Every Man Jack, which sells affordable and accessible clean personal care and grooming alternatives - Global Cosmetic Industry
M&A
Mars, known for their brands M&Ms and Snickers and is a manufacturer of confectionery and pet food products, acquired Hotel Chocolat for $665 million. Hotel Chocolat is a U.K. chocolate brand known for their lower sugar and higher cocoa products - Food Dive