Kencko makes plant-based, blender-free nutrition products using freeze-dried technology, offering organic smoothies (about 2.5 servings of fruits and vegetables per serving) and gumdrops (one serving). Its products contain no refined sugars, sweeteners, or artificial ingredients and come in more than a dozen smoothie flavors and four gumdrop flavors. The company shipped over 10 million freeze-dried smoothies in the past year, equivalent to roughly 660 tons of fresh produce, and is on track to be carbon neutral in 2022. Kencko has grown on average over 500% per year after three years in business and ended the year with nearly 360,000 members (173% growth over 2020). The company recently passed 100 employees and plans to double headcount in the next 12 months. Kencko is expanding into new categories, unveiled a heated bowls product coming later in February, and plans to begin dipping into brick-and-mortar retail. Kencko produces 20g, 100% organic fruit-and-vegetable sachets that are flash-frozen and slow-dried to retain pulp and vitamins; each packet mixes with water and supplies two of the five-a-day servings. The company currently sells six flavors and offers unit and subscription purchase options, including a $16 three-day trial and 20- and 60-sachet bundles priced at $60 and $150. Kencko plans to add up to half a dozen new flavor options this year and is developing two additional 100% organic products. The new capital is being used to expand product development and grow its direct-to-consumer strategy, including a mobile app currently in beta with a planned full launch this year. Subscriptions include access to an in-house personal nutritionist who will use app data to personalize customers’ diets, with potential face-to-face appointments in parts of the U.S. and remote sessions later on. The company was founded in 2017, is run by CEO Tomás Froes and CBO Ricardo Vice Santos, and operates with a 25-person team while focusing on the U.S. and Canada (available worldwide).

Total raised

$13M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Jan 2022