Funding to food and beverage startups is on track to hit a record high this year, atop solid deal count growth every year from 2012-2016. Partially driving the growth are new investors moving into the space: Since mid-2015, traditional “Big Food” giants including Kellogg’s, Campbell Soup, Tyson Foods, and General Mills have launched new investment vehicles, while food-focused venture funds such as Cavu Ventures and S2G Ventures have also sprung up.
We used CB Insights database to track annual funding trends to the space and created a visual representation of where investors are placing bets in specific categories within the food & beverage space.
Last year, deals to food and beverage companies hit a record high of 338 deals, though funding slipped to $919M from $1.6B in 2015. The sector hit the ground running in the first few months of 2017, and as new investors ramp up their activity — and potentially attract more traditional Silicon Valley investors toward food & beverage — we could see deal and dollar records broken this year.
So where have all these investments gone? We categorized all the food & beverage deals in our CB Insights database since 2013 to create the infographic below. While some of the most well-funded startups in the space focus on beverages (such as Vita Coco, Suja Juice, and Juicero) the majority of deals have gone to food brands.
Within food, startups producing condiments & spices have attracted the most deals. Notable startups in that segment included nut butter brand Justin’s (acquired by Hormel Foods in 2016 for $286M, after raising $48M), Sir Kensington’s, which makes all-natural condiments, and Bandar Foods, which makes Indian flavor sauces.
See the full infographic below.
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