Venture capital isn’t just funding technology companies. Many food and beverage companies have seen VCs as investors, a trend that consumer goods companies should keep a close eye on. We used CB Insights data to analyze trends into VC-backed food and beverage companies globally over time.
While there has been a steady increase in deal activity from 2010 to 2014, 2015 showed the first sign of a decline, with deals ticking down slightly (though it was the second consecutive year to see at least 70 deals).
Funding saw a 129% year-over-year increase in 2014 thanks to a 4 $50M rounds. 2015 saw slower growth but broke $700M of investment for the first time, with a few $100M+ financings. These included rounds to juice company Suja Life (a $150M corporate minority investment from The Coca-Cola Company) and plant-based meat developer Impossible Foods (a $108M Series D from Bill Gates and Khosla Ventures, among other investors).
Top states
The top states in the US for food and beverage companies were California, New York, and Colorado. California has been the most active geography for the food and beverage space, seeing a total of nearly 100 deals since 2010.
New York was second most active, but saw a dip in 2015 with only 5 financings including Hungry Root and Brooklyn-based Ample Hills Creamery. Several companies that have received large financings outside of major markets include Quench USA (Pennsylvania), Aseptia (North Carolina), and LYFE Kitchen (Atlanta).
VCs have also financed a number of coffee companies, including Blue Bottle Roast, Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company, and Beanies The Flavour Co.
Image credit: cycleonebill, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
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