Last week, California-based food company, Back to the Roots, announced it has completed a seed financing round, totaling $5 million. The company revealed it will be leaving the round open for thirty days through a crowdfunding campaign on CircleUp, which has so far raised $3 million.
Back to the Roots previously raised a $2 million convertible note in June 2015. Prior to that, the company used business plan competition prize money, Kickstarter, and bank loans. Its initial funding was just a $5,000 grant, which came from UC Berkeley, the co-founders’ alma mater, over five years ago.
Co-founder of Back to the Roots, Nikhil Arora, stated:
“As we looked to raise this seed round, it was clear that we wanted to take a similar approach, and it has been so exciting to be able to bring this opportunity back to our passionate community.”
With the new funding, Back to the Roots has plans for major growth. 2015 already saw it increase from three to eighteen total products, expand from Ready to Grow to Ready to Eat lines, with its new, 100% stoneground breakfast cereals and Organic Breakfast Toppers, and sign an exclusive national partnership with Sodexo to launch in K-12 schools. The funds will also be used to accelerate product development (10 new products in the pipeline for 2016), expand distribution into retailers and schools, and build the team at its Oakland headquarters.
Co-founder of Back to the Roots, Alejandro Velez, added:
“We see an exciting opportunity to ‘Undo Food’, and continue to create a food company for this next generation that goes beyond natural/organic and focuses on radical transparency, sustainability, and great design. We want to bring the same level of trust that families feel when they grow their own food, directly to the grocery aisle and ready to eat food.”
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