The Consumer Roundup #58
Hey Friends,
First, HUGE thank you to Marc Nathan and Bill Murphy for throwing AWESOME events last week in Austin. Turn Up! CPG Celebration on Wednesday night and WakeUp CPG on Thursday morning were a blast. Glad I made the trip and it was great hanging with you all and meeting the emerging CPG community in Austin.
Speaking of events…we have a few coming up. First, if you’re headed to SXSW…we’re doing a Consumer VC Live at Funded House. I’m really excited to interview George Milton and Erin Link, founders of Yellowbird. If you haven’t tried Yellowbird…you’re missing out. All their hot sauces I had are excellent…and its become a nice holiday present I send to my dad. He’s become a big fan (he LOVES hot sauce). I can’t believe this will be our THIRD SXSW Consumer VC Live. Here are the details:
🌶️🐥The Consumer VC Live with Yellowbird
📆 Monday, March 11th 1:30pm - 5pm CST
📍Funded House – 200 E 6th St Austin, TX
This issue is brought to you by Propeller Industries.
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☕️ Rise, Roast & Meet CPG
📆 Thursday, March 14th 8:00am-10:00am PST
📍Sunset Deck (5th Floor) at the Hilton Hotel in Anaheim
Have any plans in the morning during Expo? Well if you don’t join us for our “Rise, Roast, & Meet CPG” event from 8am-10am on that Thursday (3/14). I’m delighted to partner with Manufactured, Cult Capital, Bridge Finance Group, ForceBrands, J.P. Morgan, smartrr, ShipBob, dash.fi, DayZero, WeFunder, and BrandRock. Come for coffee, treats and conversation!
💻 Webinar: From Clicks to Bricks: Successful Scaling from DTC to Wholesale Distribution to Retail for Rising Natural Food Brands
📆 Thursday, March 7th 2:00pm-3:00pm EST
I’m delighted to be joined by Cody Berensen from Siddhi Capital and Chris Carter from Porter Road to discuss the transition from direct-to-consumer (DTC) success to the competitive shelves of brick-and-mortar retail. This lead-in to Expo West will provide a platform for thought leaders to share their insights on overcoming the barriers to entry when going from online to the aisle.
FounderMade’s Direct to Consumer Summit
📆 Thursday, March 7th (All Day)
📍Soho House, Austin TX
Our friends at FounderMade are hosting a summit during SXSW. FounderMade’s Direct to Consumer Summit ATX is a future-led day of thought leadership and networking for executives at CPG brands generating $5M+ in annual revenue and the resources that help their businesses scale. Featured speakers include executives from Kendra Scott, Chubbies Shorts, The Honey Pot Company, Super Coffee, William Murray Golf, and more. Brands generating $5M+ in revenue receive a complimentary ticket.
On to the consumer fundraising update –
💻Consumer Software💻
Bending Spoons, the technology company that owns Meetup and Evernote, raised $155 million at a $2.55 billion post-money valuation. The round was led by Durable Capital Partners with participation from Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, NB Renaissance, NUO Capital, and StarTIP - TechCrunch
Duetti, the music financing company that buys music catalogs, individual tracks and/or parts of tracks from artists, raised a $15 million equity financing round from Nyca Partners, Viola Ventures and Cohen Circle, and a $75m credit facility from Northleaf Capital Partners - Musically
AstroTalk, the India-based company that connects consumers to astrologers, raised a $20 million Series A from Left Lane Capital - Entracker
Overworld, the gaming studio that is currently working on its first game that is a web3 free-to-play action-RPG, raised a $10 million seed round co-led by Hashed, The Spartan Group, Sanctor Capital and Galaxy Interactive with participation from Hashkey, Big Brain Holdings and Foresight Ventures - VentureBeat
GetMobil, the Turkey-based marketplace that sells refurbished consumer electronics, raised a $4 million seed round, led by European DFF (Dutch Founder Fund) with participation from 212, İşBank, TechOne, and Logo Ventures - Tech Funding News
🛍️Consumer Brands / Inventory-Based Businesses🛍️
Pacifico Biolabs, the Germany-based company that is using fermentaion to create seafood alternatives, raised a $3.3 million pre-seed round co-led by Simon Capital and FoodLabs with participation from Exceptional Ventures and Sprout & About Ventures - TechCrunch
Spacegoods, the London-based functional powder mushroom brand, raised a $3.1 million seed round led by Five Seasons Ventures, with participation from Redrice Ventures, Slingshot Ventures and G-FUND - TechCrunch
Mindy, the AI startup that is building an email-based executive assistant, raised a $6 million seed round led by Sequoia Capital and Founders Fund - TechCrunch
Jones, the nicotine replacement therapy brand, raised a $1.1 million pre-seed round led by Good Friends with participation from Rough Draft Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, NYU Innovation Fund, Dan Rosenthal, and Marguerite Mariscal - Beauty Independent
💸M&A💸
Guess Inc., the jean brand, and WHP, the brand management firm, buys Rag & Bone. The deal structure – Guess will buy all of the operating assets of Rag & Bone; a 50/50 joint venture by Guess and WHP will acquire the Rag & Bone’s intellectual property - WWD
Heritage Distilling Company (HDC) acquired Thinking Tree Spirits. Thinking Tree’s brands include Gifted Gin, Main Stage Vodka, Whiteaker Rum and Butterfly Lavender Pea Vodka - The Spirits Business
🥹Debuts🥹
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg are starting their own RTD cocktail called “Gin & Juice” - FoodDive
Beyoncé launched her haircare line, Cécred - Inc.
💰Funds Raising Funds💰
Bluestein Ventures, the Chicago-based food tech venture fund whose investments include Vive Organics, Factor, Foxtrot and Meati, raised $45 million Fund III. I had the pleasure of having Ashley Hartman from Bluestein on the podcast in December 2022 where we discuss the future of food - TechCrunch