February 21, 2020

Photo credit: Alpha Foods

By Lynda Kiernan

Food and beverage venture capital investor AccelFoods has led a $28 million Series A for vegan and non-GMO food startup Alpha Foods. Joining AccelFoods in this round were New Crop Capital, Green Monday Ventures, and Blue Horizon. 

Based in California, Alpha Foods was co-founded in 2015 by Loren Wallis, the former founder of Good Karma Foods – which was acquired by Dean Foods in 2018 – and Cole Orobetz, a former food and agtech venture capital investor.

Since the company’s launch, Wallis’ and Orobetz’ deep experience as pioneers in the plant-based food and beverage space has driven Alpha Foods to rapidly set itself apart from its rivals, growing its portfolio from four to 25 vegan and non-GMO products.

This investment is a return for AccelFoods, which co-led a $7 million funding round with New Crop Capital for Alpha in March 2019. Since this initial round, AccelFoods has served as a key strategic partner for Alpha, which has posted eight-figure revenue over the course of the year between rounds.

“Our benchmark at Alpha Foods is to always create products that are appealing to meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans alike. Plant-based options don’t need to be extreme or polarizing anymore,” says Cole Orobetz, co-founder and CFO/COO, Alpha Foods, in March 2019. “More consumers are looking to reduce their meat intake without sacrificing foods they know and love. Our foods have mass-market appeal because they are familiar, easy to prepare and can be enjoyed on-the-go.”

Alpha plans to use the capital raised through this Series A to fund the launch of new products, to expand its team with new talent, to expand both its domestic and international distribution channels, and to strengthen its sales and marketing support to increase its touchpoints with consumers.

“As more and more people actively seek out plant-based options, whether for their health or the environment, we are looking to expand our innovations within the category and bring easy to prepare products to a wider audience,” said Orobetz. “We are so fortunate to continue our incredible partnership with AccelFoods and take the brand to the next level through new products, distribution, and talent.”

The significant growth in capital between rounds reflects not only the company’s leadership, but the wider demand scenario in the plant-based food category. In December 2019, EHL, a British ingredients supplier, announced its “top trends” for 2020, of which, some of the top were healthy eating, making plant-based foods more available, and convenience  – all factors playing into Alpha Foods’ business model. 

Additionally, Alpha Foods focuses on easy, healthy, frozen foods, a category projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.1 percent to reach a value of $282.5 billion by 2023, according to Markets and Markets. All of these factors are strategic growth drivers for Alpha, which saw its distribution climb from 6,000 retail locations in March 2019 to more than 9,000 today, including Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Safeway, and Wegmans. 

“We are in the early days of plant-based consumption. As a portable, functional food business geared towards the newly emergent flexitarian consumer, the Alpha platform meets all of its customers snack and mealtime needs,” said Jordan Gaspar, managing partner, AccelFoods.

“We couldn’t be prouder to lead this strong nexus of collaborative investors, who had the opportunity to organically build trust this past year allowing for an incredibly successful outcome in this financing.”

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.