SAN FRANCISCO — The Naked Market, a better-for-you food and beverage company, has raised $27.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Integrated Capital with participation from Great Oaks Venture Capital, Pacific Tiger Group, Sope Creek Capital and Clearco.
Founded in 2019, The Naked Market conceptualizes and commercializes new products within two to three months using a proprietary technology tool, The Machine, that leverages millions of data points to identify market opportunities. To date, the company has developed five brands. Flock is a line of crispy rotisserie chicken chips. AvoCrazy is a brand of avocado-based puffed snacks in flavors such as vegan ranch and barbecue. Project Breakfast is a canned plant-based protein beverage featuring almonds and coconut milk. Beach House Bowls are ready-to-eat acai smoothie bowls packaged with an organic granola topping. Rob’s Backstage Popcorn, described as a sweet and savory snack, is a joint venture with the Jonas Brothers.
“The Naked Market has built a unique portfolio model that allows the team to hone in on multiple snack products that not only lead with superior flavor and better ingredients, but are at the forefront of trends as they emerge,” said Jeffrey Yam, executive director at Hong Kong-based Integrated Capital. “The technology and infrastructure they have built to create and scale multiple brands is something we believe will catapult them to being the next big incumbent in the food and beverage sector.”
The Naked Market will use the new funding to focus on in-house incubation, scale existing brands and pursue strategic acquisitions.
“While the demand for better-for-you products that meet a variety of dietary needs is at an all-time high, most consumers rarely see the full range of options available to them because big box brands tend to churn out items based on their legacy infrastructure and not today's consumer needs,” said Harrison Fugman, co-founder and chief executive officer of The Naked Market.
Alex Kost, co-founder and chief operating officer, added, “Having developed a platform that is optimized for new age consumers and differentiated sales channels, specifically digital, we can compete against the big incumbents in a much faster and more resource-efficient manner.”