The food and beverage industry is remarkably concentrated, with the top companies wielding multiple, sometimes dozens, of brands. In each of the major food & beverage categories, the top 4 or fewer companies capture over 70% of the market across key segments like beer, soda, chocolate, and cereal.
But with increased global focus on health and natural eating, smaller food companies have grown in recent years — a Boston Consulting Group report found that CPG companies with less than $5B in sales gained 2.7 points of market share since 2011 — representing $18.1B in aggregate sales growth.
Big CPG players have stepped up their M&A and investment activity in recent years. Since late 2015, we’ve seen General Mills, Campbell Soup, and Kellogg’s all launch or invest in venture capital funds to foster startup innovation, while other corporates have made major acquisitions. Danone’s announced a $12.5B acquisition of WhiteWave Foods in October 2016, while in November PepsiCo acquired kombucha startup KeVita and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group acquired antioxidant beverage startup Bai Brands for $1.7B.
We still see dozens of private food and beverage companies (some with equity funding from the industry leaders) attacking every aisle in the supermarket, with some offering their products in stores, and others competing solely by distributing online. Using CB Insights data, we identified over 120 companies offering new takes on healthy beverages, snack foods, plant-based cheese, and more. Scroll down to view the graphic, as well as funding and investor data for each company.
Track all the grocery startups in this brief and many more on our platform
Startups working on food and beverages have the potential to upend the industry. Look for CPG: Food and Beverage Products in the Collections tab.
Track food & beverage startupsThe graphic includes private, active companies only. The graphic is not exhaustive of startups in the space. Please click image to enlarge.
| Company | Category | Select Investors |
|---|---|---|
| Nurturme | Baby Food | EcoEnterprises Fund |
| Once Upon a Farm | Baby Food | Cambridge SPG, Harbinger Ventures, S2G Ventures |
| Hail Merry | Baking & Spices | Powerplant Ventures, CircleUp, HBC Investments |
| Kiki’s Gluten Free Foods | Baking & Spices | Undisclosed |
| Maninis Gluten Free | Baking & Spices | Undisclosed |
| Rumi Spice | Baking & Spices | Partnership Capital Growth, Catamount Ventures |
| Nutek Food Science | Baking & Spices | Khosla Ventures |
| Alter Eco | Candy | Good Capital, Renewal Funds, Serious Change Fund |
| Boomf | Candy | Duncan Jennings |
| Nibmor | Candy | Emil Capital Partners |
| Ocho Candy (Five Star Organics) | Candy | Undisclosed |
| Raaka Chocolate | Candy | Funding Circle |
| Simply Gum | Candy | Collaborative Fund |
| Sweetriot | Candy | Golden Seeds |
| Tcho Ventures | Candy | Emil Capital Partners |
| Theo Chocolate | Candy | Alliance of Angels |
| Unreal Brands | Candy | Khosla Ventures, Raptor Consumer Partners |
| Chirps Chips (Six Foods) | Chips | MassChallenge |
| Pop! Gourmet | Chips | Undisclosed |
| Primizie | Chips | Tasty Ventures, Baylor Angel Network |
| Blue Bottle Coffee | Coffee | Index Ventures, True Ventures, Google Ventures |
| Califia Farms | Coffee | Stripes Group |
| Chameleon Cold Brew | Coffee | Undisclosed |
| High Brew Coffee | Coffee | CAVU Ventures |
| Bandar Foods | Condiments | AccelFoods, August Capital, ACP Ventures |
| Love and Hummus | Condiments | Undisclosed |
| Sir Kensington’s | Condiments | Verlinvest |
| Tessemae’s All Natural | Condiments | Sagamore Ventures, War Horse |
| Chaat Company | Dairy | Undisclosed |
| Chevoo | Dairy | Undisclosed |
| Elli Quark | Dairy | Undisclosed |
| Good Culture | Dairy | General Mills Ventures, CAVU Ventures |
| Maia Yogurt (Healthy Mom) | Dairy | Undisclosed |
| Fuel for Fire | Energy Drinks | Undisclosed |
| Glukos | Energy Drinks | Ecosystem Integrity Fund |
| Kill Cliff | Energy Drinks | Sherbrooke Capital |
| Mati | Energy Drinks | Duke Angel Network |
| Sambazon | Energy Drinks | Stonyfield Farms, Greenmont Capital Partners |
| The FRS Company | Energy Drinks | Oak Investment Partners, Radar Partners, RRE Ventures |
| Halo Top | Frozen Desserts | CircleUp |
| Jala (BE Active Brands) | Frozen Desserts | Undisclosed |
| JC’s Pie Pops (We The Pie People) | Frozen Desserts | Undisclosed |
| Oppo Ice Cream | Frozen Desserts | Seedrs |
| Ruby’s Naturals | Frozen Desserts | Mistral Equity Partners |
| Yasso | Frozen Desserts | Raptor Consumer Partners |
| Cheribundi | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Cayuga Venture Fund, Emil Capital Partners |
| Coco Libre (Maverick Brands) | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Undisclosed |
| Drink Maple | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Undisclosed |
| Hint | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Verlinvest |
| Kuli Kuli | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Eighteen94 Capital, S2G Ventures, Investeco Capital |
| Suja Life | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Coca-Cola Company, Boulder Brands Investment Group, Leonardo DiCaprio |
| Temple Turmeric | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Boulder Brands Investment Group |
| Vita Coco (All Market) | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | Verlinvest, Madonna, Demi Moore |
| WTRMLN WTR (World Waters) | Fruit & Herbal Drinks | CAVU Ventures, Beyonce Knowles |
| Barnana (Wholesome Valley Foods) | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Finn Capital Partners, Boulder Food Group, Blueberry Ventures |
| Better Bean | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Portland Seed Fund, CircleUp |
| Brami | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | AccelFoods, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Enlightened Capital |
| Dang Foods | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Sonoma Brands |
| Farmwise | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Undisclosed |
| Halfpops | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | N/A |
| Nomva | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Evolution Media Partners, Taylor Farms |
| Nourish Snacks | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Undisclosed |
| Ocean’s Halo | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | CircleUp |
| Peeled Snacks | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Fireman Capital Partners |
| Rhythm Superfoods | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | 301 INC, CircleUp, Affinity Angel Investment Fund |
| Sahale Snacks | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | Palladium Equity Partners |
| Skinny Dipped Almonds (Wild Things Snacks) | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | AccelFoods |
| Soul Sprout | Fruit & Vegetable Snacks | NGEN Partners |
| GoodBelly (Next Foods) | Kombucha | Emil Capital Partners, Maveron |
| Health-Ade Kombucha | Kombucha | CAVU Ventures, First Beverage Group |
| Humm Kombucha | Kombucha | Undisclosed |
| Live Soda | Kombucha | Undisclosed |
| Revive Brands | Kombucha | Greenhouse Capital, Prolog Ventures |
| Ambronite | Liquid Meals | Lifeline Ventures |
| Feed | Liquid Meals | Senseii Ventures |
| Mix1 | Liquid Meals | Highland Capital Partners |
| Rumble Supershake | Liquid Meals | CircleUp |
| Soylent | Liquid Meals | Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Initialized Capital |
| Beyond Meat | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Obvious Ventures, Bill Gates |
| Clara Foods | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | SOSventures, Indie.Bio |
| Daiya | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Undisclosed |
| Good Karma | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | 2x Consumer Products Growth Partners |
| Hampton Creek | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Khosla Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Horizons Ventures |
| Heidi Ho | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Lori Greiner |
| Impossible Foods | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Bill Gates, Horizons Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Google Ventures |
| Kite Hill | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Khosla Ventures, New Crop Capital |
| Memphis Meats | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Indie.Bio, New Crop Capital, SOSventures |
| Miyoko’s Kitchen | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Obvious Ventures, New Crop Capital, Stray Dog Capital |
| Perfect Day | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Horizons Ventures, SOSventures, Indie.Bio |
| Ripple Foods | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Blueberry Ventures, Google Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Prelude Ventures |
| WayFare Foods | Meat & Dairy Substitutes | Undisclosed |
| Chef’s Cut Real Jerky | Meat & Fish | CAVU Ventures |
| Hip Chick Farms | Meat & Fish | Advantage Capital Partners, CircleUp |
| New Wave Foods | Meat & Fish | Efficient Capital, New Crop Capital, Indie.Bio |
| Perky Jerky | Meat & Fish | Sunrise Strategic Partners |
| PRE Brands | Meat & Fish | BRJ Ventures |
| Walden Local Meat Co. | Meat & Fish | Undisclosed |
| Buen Sabor | Packaged Meals | Kodiak Venture Partners |
| Fishpeople | Packaged Meals | 3×5 Special Opportunity Partners |
| Hilary’s (Drink Eat Well) | Packaged Meals | Undisclosed |
| Hungryroot | Packaged Meals | Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Crosslink Capital |
| Love The Wild | Packaged Meals | Aqua-Spark |
| Luvo | Packaged Meals | TomorrowVentures |
| Saffron Road (American Halal Company) | Packaged Meals | Undisclosed |
| Aloha | Protein Bars | Khosla Ventures, BoxGroup, First Round Capital |
| Exo Protein | Protein Bars | AccelFoods, Collaborative Fund, Dentsu Ventures |
| Health Warrior | Protein Bars | New Ground Ventures, New Richmond Ventures |
| Regrained | Protein Bars | Undisclosed |
| Q Tonic | Soda | LaunchCapital, CircleUp, Angel Investor Forum |
| Sipp | Soda | Emil Capital Partners |
| Spindrift | Soda | Prolog Ventures, RiverPark Ventures |
| Zevia | Soda | Northwood Venture Partners, NGEN Partners |
| Kitchen22 | Soups | Undisclosed |
| Tio’s Gazpacho | Soups | 301 INC, CircleUp |
| Bhakti Chai | Tea | Colorado Impact Fund, P2BInvestor |
| Drazil Foods | Tea | Two Bridges Capital Group |
| Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Products | Tea | Undisclosed |
| Numi Organic Tea | Tea | Catamount Ventures, Partnership Growth Capital |
| Rooibee Red Tea | Tea | SeedStep Angels, SB Holding |
| Runa | Tea | Investors Circle, MetaBrand Capital |
| Teabox | Tea | Accel Partners, Horizen Ventures |
| Tiesta Tea | Tea | Undisclosed |
| Zest Tea | Tea | Venture for America |
Want more data about food and CPG startups and funding trends? Login to CB Insights or sign up for free below.
If you aren’t already a client, sign up for a free trial to learn more about our platform.