News for November 9, 2022

Young Mountain Tea using new funding for good

Young Mountain Tea has raised $1.1 million to construct a farmer-owned factory in India and produce zero-waste tea bags. The organic tea company will finance this project with a grant from USAID and Frontier Co-op and a pending equity investment. The company also completed a convertible note round led by SWAN and secured debt and lines of credit from Oregon Community Development Financial Institutions Funds and Vermont private foundations to launch its 100% compostable tea bags.

Suja Life acquires Vive Organic

Suja Life, a cold-pressed juice and juice shot manufacturer, has acquired the immunity-boosting juice shot brand Vive Organic, which was created by a group of holistic medical professionals. Together, the brands will be able to improve operational capabilities, enhance marketing/sales efforts and further innovate through research.

Unilever leads Series B funding for Youvit

Youvit, an Indonesian-based vitamin brand, recently raised $6 million in growth funding led by Unilever Ventures. Existing backers DSG Consumer Partners, as well as new investors, also joined the round. The new financing will grow Youvit’s product offerings and team. Additionally, the brand plans to increase distribution and availability across Southeast Asia and launch its entire product range in Malaysia.

CruzFoam leaves no room for plastic with $18M Series A funding

CruzFoam wants to make sure that plastic never enters the ecosystem in the first place. To do so, CruzFoam offers a naturally derived and compostable alternative made from chitin, shells from crustaceans such as lobsters and crabs. In addition, the brand can upcycle these shells that are left over from seafood shops. The new Series A funding will help the brand speed up production and test new prototypes.

Extending investments into plant-based hair

Nourie, a plant-based hair extension brand, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to launch its alternative to synthetic hair extensions. Impact America Fund, Better Ventures and IndieBio led the seed round. The new funding will help prove product-market fit, grow the small team and increase brand awareness. Nourie will launch this month at a competitive price of $35 in the multi-billion-dollar wig and extensions industry.

BioVeritas raises $65M

BioVeritas uses fermentation to upcycle food and agriculture waste into ingredients and other uses. The new $65 million funding comes from the company’s majority shareholder Ara Partners. The company will use the new funds to upgrade its facilities, improve processes and deliver large-scale samples to potential customers in the first quarter of 2023.

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