Snack company SkinnyDippedknown for its lightly dipped nuts, closed on $12 million in Series A funding in August to move into new retailers and new categories.
Mother and daughter Val and Breezy Griffith founded the company, which had humble beginnings as part of the 2016 AccelFoods portfolio, with the goal of providing better-for-you snacks with less sugar, non-GMO ingredients and no artificial sweeteners. They started with almond flavors, like Lemon Bliss, designed as a direct-to-consumer toy.
Today, the Seattle-based company has gone beyond just almonds — of which there are now seven varieties — as it has evolved into cashews, peanuts, and a line of cups and bites that it launched last year, CEO Breezy Griffith told TechCrunch.
In addition to DTC, it is now also present in more than 25,000 retail stores across the country, including Target, Walmart and Kroger.
“We have a strong and diverse distribution,” Griffith said. “Two things that stand out are our ability to innovate, which is what my mother does at home, and that our brand can do well no matter where we are. This shows that we are appealing to a broad market and consumer base. It’s not just grocery, it’s a club business.” Gyms and cafes.
This is a positive amid what Griffith said about the snack industry having a “current sense of ignorance and uncertainty to try to navigate into the future.” She attributes this to the result of investors changing their thinking about growth and profitability.
For example, in consumer packaged goods, there is “a big pendulum swing from growth at all costs to early-stage profitability,” Griffiths said. For consumer packaged goods companies, profitability does not come until there is scale, and this requires time, money, and proper marketing. Founders discover this path.
“It will come down some and it will be both growth and profitability, however, we have to grow and innovate and we also need to achieve profitability,” she added. “What sets us apart, and what we do really well, is creating products that are not too mainstream or too niche. They will stand the test of time, and investors recognize that.”
In fact, the company attracted dozens of investors in its $12 million seed round. The round was led by hospitality entrepreneur David Grutman, who also backs food-related companies such as Snackpass and Immi.
The investment is somewhat unique: Instead of a special-purpose vehicle, individual investors pooled the money into a single financing entity, Griffith said. Among these dozens of investors, there are some names you’ll recognize, including Amy Schumer, Mark Wahlberg, Becky G, Post Malone, Tan France, Odell Beckham Jr., Frances Tiafoe, Alesso, Kevin Durant, Cascade, Steve Aoki, and Marshmello .
This financing enables SkinnyDipped to work on retail expansion plans that include new retailers like Costco and Publix, support philanthropic and marketing efforts and continue to innovate in new spaces over the coming months.
It comes after SkinnyDipped has spent the past 18 months working on its business foundations, including manufacturing and cost optimization, for its next chapter of growth, Griffiths said. In that time, the company’s business has seen double-digit growth and is expected to double again over the next 12 months. She also said that the company is approaching profitability.
“There is a growing club business and new distribution and retail partners ready to go,” she said. “We want to move into categories where we can deliver on the brand promise. We also want to spend thoughtfully in marketing where we are seeing an amazing return on investment.
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