April 26, 2018

Los Angeles-based Monogram Capital Partners announced the final closing of its debut fund at its hard cap of $152 million. Closing oversubscribed, the fund is backed with commitments from family offices, funds of funds, endowments, and foundations.

“We are deeply appreciative of the support received from such a high‐quality investor base, many of whom have been investing with us for several years now,” said Jared Stein, co‐founder and partner of Monogram.

Founded in 2014 by Jared Stein and Oliver Nordlinger, Monogram’s investment principle builds on the reality that many innovative, emerging consumer and retail brands never achieve their full potential due to a lack of access to necessary capital, according to the firm’s website.  Through both minority growth and controlling stakes, Monogram partners with strong management teams to foster next-generation category leaders. Within this framework, Monogram typically makes initial investments of between $5  and $10 million, with the option to commit to follow-on rounds up to $30 million.

In all, Monogram has made 14 investments in nine companies, the majority of which are food ventures, including Ellenos, a maker of a better-for-you greek yogurt; Country Archer, a maker of organic, gourmet, extra lean, grass-fed jerky; Paleteria La Michoacana, a maker of Hispanic frozen novelty foods; Pizza Studio, a fast-casual restaurant concept; and Dig Inn, a New York-based farm-to-table venture.

Additionally, in April of last year, GAI News shared that Monogram was the lead in a significant $10 million Series B for Kidfresh, a leading and rapidly growing brand of frozen meals targeted for kids. Other investors in the round included AccelFoods and Emil Capital Partners, which previously led the company’s Series A in 2013.

And, even though the firm believes in targeting organic and better-for-you brands, Stein tells Project Nosh that the firm still keeps an open eye toward promising indulgent options as well, as long as the brand has an uncompromised vision.

“For us, where we never want to play is in the undifferentiated middle where you are getting squeezed on both sides. I think that’s a tough value proposition,” said Stein.

This strong identity and clear vision was one aspect that attracted Monogram to Kidfresh.

“In today’s often crowded consumer landscape, Matt and Gilles have built a brand with a strong reason to exist in a category of frozen food that is starved for innovation,” said Jared Stein in April of last year.

Venice Ventures

Monogram also controls Venice Brands, a venture capital unit dedicated to smaller investments of between $1 and $5 million in exchange for minority stakes in promising consumer startups.

Launched in January 2017 by Monogram Capital partner and former POM Wonderful exec Greg Willsey, Venice’s team works closely with the leadership of each portfolio company to grow sales and achieve scale. Because of this, Venice Brands takes a more curated approach, making fewer investments, but being highly involved in its commitments.

“We believe that our model is very unique and that we can add tremendous value to emerging brands by leveraging our industry connections and our seasoned advisory and consulting networks. Our expanding shared services team exists solely to support our brands, and we are able to attract excellent talent who want to be part of a broader platform. We are very selective on who we partner with as a result,” said Willsey in a company release announcing the launch of the platform.

Investments made through this unit include Osso Good, a rapidly growing brand of premium bone broths; and KonaRed, a maker of cold brew coffees.

“We see lot of companies where the founder has caught on to something,” Willsey told Project Nosh last year, “…and there’s a real opportunity to get in earlier, to get a greater share of the company, to help shape the strategic direction of it, to build out the team and to help them avoid a ton of pitfalls that these companies often have.”

-Lynda Kiernan