Topgolf Founders Launch Poolhouse, Jack Wolfskin Sold, Pringles x Miller Lite, Strava Acquires Runna, AI Food Startups & More
The Consumer Roundup #115
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🧃Consumer Brands👚
💰Fundraises💰
Catchfree, the Swiss startup that creates sustainable seafood, has raised CHF 1.2 million (approximately €1.3 million) seed round led by FortyOne Group and Stiftung Startfeld to scale production of its plant-based seafood alternatives. The company creates sustainable seafood options using ingredients like rice, soy protein, and algae. Their current product offering includes shrimp, fish burgers, and fish bites – Vegconomist
Starday, an AI driven food company, has secured $11 million in Series A funding led by Slow Ventures and Equal Ventures. to expand its AI-driven platform for developing better-for-you food brands. The company uses AI to forecast consumer trends and assist retailers in launching health-focused food products. Their current portfolio of brands include Gooey, Habeya, All Day, and Cozumi – Food Business News
Rosaluna Mezcal has completed a Series A funding round, led by Sacha Lichine – PR Newswire
💸M&A💸
Topgolf Callaway Brands has agreed to sell its German outdoor apparel brand, Jack Wolfskin, to China's ANTA Sports for $290 million in cash. The transaction, expected to close in late Q2 or early Q3 2025, aligns with Topgolf Callaway's strategy to streamline operations and enhance financial flexibility ahead of its planned separation of the Topgolf business. Jack Wolfskin is projected to generate €325 million in revenue and €12 million in adjusted EBITDA for 2025 – Stock Titan
Diageo has traded its North American rights to Cîroc vodka for a majority stake in Lobos 1707 Tequila, a brand backed by NBA star LeBron James. This strategic move aligns with Diageo's focus on expanding its presence in the premium tequila market – Food Dive
Nestlé is launching Maison Perrier, a line of non-alcoholic sparkling cocktails, in the U.S. market. – Food Dive
Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg producer in the U.S., is acquiring Echo Lake Foods for $258 million. The acquisition aims to diversify Cal-Maine's product offerings by adding frozen egg and breakfast items to its portfolio – Food Dive
🪇Collabs🪇
Kraft Heinz is bringing back everything bagel mac & cheese flavor – Yahoo!
Pringles and Miller Lite collaborate on a limited-edition "Beer Can Chicken" and “Grilled Beer Brat” flavor chips – Food and Wine
Hormel Foods collaborates with Signature Wafer & Chocolate Co. to introduce two new flavors—Banana and Strawberry Jelly—to its Skippy Peanut Butter Wafer Bar line. Additionally, the existing Creamy Peanut Butter and Chocolate Fudge variety has been reformulated to include granola and chocolate chip toppings and…6 grams of protein – Food Business News
Kraft Heinz has launched its first plant-based dessert: Jell-O Oat Milk Chocolate Pudding. This dairy-free, oat milk based, vegan-friendly product caters to the growing demand for plant-based options – Food Dive
💻Consumer Software💻
💰Fundraises💰
Midnite, the UK sports gambling and gaming platform, raised $10 million Series B led by Discerning Capital, the Raine Group, and Play Ventures. This brings Midnite’s total capital raised to over $35 million - Gambling News
NoScrubs, an Austin, TX based laundry as a service technology company, raised $2 million pre-seed round led by Initialized Capital – TechCrunch
Capsule has raised $12 million in Series A funding to develop the next version of its AI-powered video editing platform for brands. The round was led by Innovation Endeavors, with participation from HubSpot Ventures. The platform offers features like AI-generated suggestions and real-time collaboration to streamline video content creation – TechCrunch
Trellis Health has emerged from stealth and raised $1.8 million in pre-seed funding from Palette Ventures, Swizzle Ventures, NEXTBLUE, Suncoast Ventures, and Sundial Foundation to launch its digital health platform focused on personalized, proactive care for women, starting with pregnancy and postpartum support. The platform aims to simplify health management through tailored insights and recommendations – VC News Daily
💸M&A💸
Strava, the social fitness platform, has acquired UK-based Runna, a rapidly growing app specializing in AI-powered running training plans, to address a key gap in its platform—lack of in-app training guidance. Runna, launched in 2021, has gained traction worldwide with users in 180 countries and recently expanded its team significantly. Financial details not disclosed – The Verge
🔻Closures, Bankruptcies & Downsizes🔻
Smashing, an AI-driven content curation app launched in June 2024 by Goodreads co-founder Otis Chandler, is shutting down due to insufficient growth. The app aimed to help users discover and organize articles, podcasts, and social media posts through AI and community recommendations. They previously raised $3.4 million from investors like True Ventures and Offline Ventures – TechCrunch
🛒eCommerce & Retail Tech🛒
💰Fundraises💰
Poolhouse, a UK-based tech-enabled pool entertainment retail concept founded by the brothers behind Topgolf, raised $34 million in seed funding. The round was led by Sharp Alpha, and dmg ventures with participation from David Blitzer, Simon Sports, Active Partners and Emerging Fund (recently had Matt from Emerging Fund on the show, Episode Here) – PR Newswire
Refiberd, a California-based startup that uses AI to revolutionize textile-to-textile recycling in fashion, raised $300k from eBay Ventures – PR Newswire
Atomic, a supply chain AI startup founded by former Tesla leaders Michael Rossiter and Neal Suidan, has raised a $3M seed round led by DVx Ventures, with participation from Madrona Ventures. The company offers agentic AI tools for inventory planning and scenario modeling, helping early customers in CPG, apparel, and food sectors reduce inventory costs by up to 50% – TechCrunch
Blue Onion, which helps retail and e-commerce companies clean and organize their financial data, has raised a $10 million Series A, bringing total funding to $17.6 million. Its platform automates the messy process of revenue and payment reconciliation, giving CFOs more accurate, real-time financial insights — and setting the stage for AI-powered forecasting. Backers include Y Combinator, Entrée Capital, and Green Egg Ventures – Blue Onion
Ideem, a platform that enables ecommerce merchants to create and manage their own branded payment and loyalty programs, raised $2.4 million in seed funding. Investors in the round include Sovereigns Capital, Quona Ventures, Everywhere Ventures, Hustle Fund, Oread Angels, Network KS – CityBiz
Doss has secured $18 million in Series A funding to advance its AI-driven enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform. Theory Ventures LP led the round and will be joining the board – Silicon Angle
Faume, the French platform that enables premium and luxury brands to launch their own resale channels has raised €8 million (approximately $9.1 million) to expand its fashion resale platform across Europe - PYMNTS
💰Funds Raising Funds💰
Equitage Ventures has announced a $47.3 million fund dedicated to investing in early-stage technology companies focused on senior care and aging. The firm aims to support startups developing solutions that enhance the quality of life for the aging population, addressing challenges in healthcare, wellness, and daily living – PR Newswire
👥 Moves 👥
NewRoad Capital Partners has appointed Vincent Love as a Partner to bolster its consumer investing strategy. Love brings extensive experience in private equity and consumer-focused investments, aiming to enhance NewRoad's portfolio and drive growth in the consumer sector. Love previously co-founded and served as the Managing Partner at Sunrise Strategic Partners – PR Newswire
Just One More Tab
Brands offer sales on current stock so consumers can beat pricing post-tariffs
There’s a growing movement of brands discounting their products to drive sales volume ahead of expected tariffs. We have seen U.S retail sales climb 1.4% in March —likely driven by consumers rushing to lock in lower prices before tariffs push costs higher.
TechStars increases funding to $220k per company starting in fall 2025
As TechCrunch points out, the funding is distributed similar to YC. Previous TechStar accelerator companies would get $20k in cash + all the benefits of going through the program for 6% of common equity + an optional $100k convertible note with a 20% discount rate capped between $3M and $5M.
The new set up is “$200,000 through an uncapped MFN Safe and $20k through a Post-Money Convertible Equity Agreement (CEA).” The $20k will be 5% of common stock and the $200k will be additional equity depending on the round price. For example, if the next round is priced at $10m, then TechStars would own an additional 2%
Thanks for reading!