Participated · Series B · Mar 2021

Sakara Life operates a direct-to-consumer meal-delivery program focused on 100% organic, nutritionally-designed plant-based meals, plus a digital marketplace with more than 30 branded functional snacks, supplements and ingestible wellness products. The company plans to expand beyond food into broader CPG categories, debuting a line of supplements and moving into beauty and personal care, while launching a mobile app and enhanced user interface. Sakara is investing in sustainable packaging (current packaging uses recycled water bottles and the company aims for 100% recyclable/compostable/biodegradable packaging by 2023), talent acquisition across its bi-coastal team, and a $1M give-back initiative over three years. Operational highlights in the articles include nearly 2 million meals sold in 2020, a workforce of 172 employees, nationwide availability, and offices in New York and Los Angeles. Financially, the company reported turning a $5M 2015 raise into immediate profitability within one year, delivering 15x revenue growth to date, and is expected to approach $150 million in profitable revenue this year. The new funding is intended to accelerate product innovation, technology, sustainability practices, and expansion of the company’s CPG arm. Sakara Life offers organic, nutritionally-designed, plant-based ready-to-eat meals delivered to customers' doors and operates a Clean Boutique retail line of more than 30 functional food products. All meals are free of dairy, gluten, pesticides, chemicals, additives, preservatives, flavorings and dyes, and the company consults nutrition experts, chefs and an advisory board that includes Bobby Flay. Customers can sign up for 3-day or 5-day meal programs and choose either a single "Taste it" option or a recurring weekly "Live it" subscription starting at $69 per day. Founded in 2012, Sakara expanded from initial NYC shipments to the Northeast, the West Coast in 2015, and has announced nationwide availability; it maintains offices in New York and Los Angeles. As of January 2016 the company was on track to deliver nearly 40,000 meals monthly and expected sales to double in 2016. Sakara reports it built a sustainable, profitable business since launch and aims to use additional capital to continue expansion and remove barriers to access for its programs.

Participated · Series C · Mar 2020

Second Nature began as FilterEasy, a D2C subscription service to help homeowners remember to change air filters and has expanded into partnerships with HVAC companies, real estate agents, utilities and commercial properties. Its core products are recurring air filters and a new water‑filtration line launching with refrigerator filters; the company is positioning itself as a broader “home wellness” brand. The business reports hundreds of thousands of customers and around 150 employees, roughly two‑thirds of whom work in fulfillment and distribution across warehouses in Ardmore, OK and Wilson, NC. In response to COVID‑19 it has retooled manufacturing to produce masks for hospitals, with materials on hand to make ~800,000 masks and capacity to produce up to 2 million per month as materials allow. The company says demand has generally risen even as some commercial channels were hurt, and it plans to use new funding to expand, hire and advance first‑party products in R&D with an emphasis on product/process improvements and environmental benefits. FilterEasy is a subscription-based HVAC air filter fulfillment service launched in 2014 and based in Raleigh. It uses a proprietary web-based platform to guarantee correct-size HVAC air filters are delivered to a customer's doorstep so they may be replaced on a regular cadence. The service addresses the common problem of consumers forgetting to change air filters and aims to simplify that task so filters are changed "on time, every time." Proper filter replacement is presented as improving indoor air quality and human health, and the company cites potential reductions in monthly heating and cooling expenses of 5%–15%. FilterEasy announced a $6.9 million Series B1 financing led by One Better Ventures and joined by Lead Edge Capital. The company says the funding will be used for product innovation and development, expanding warehouse and fulfillment capabilities, and accelerating growth. FilterEasy is a Raleigh, North Carolina-based company offering a subscription-based HVAC air filter fulfillment service via a proprietary web-based platform. Co-founded by Thad Tarkington and Kevin Barry, the company focuses on residential HVAC filter subscriptions and fulfillment. Its filters are manufactured in the United States by AAF Flanders, the nation’s largest residential HVAC filter manufacturer and a supplier to NASA and U.S. hospital systems. In July 2017 FilterEasy raised $6.9M in a Series B led by Arsenal Venture Partners. The round brought the company’s total funding to $11.4M. The business operates as a direct-to-consumer subscription fulfillment service for residential HVAC filters. FilterEasy operates a subscription-based air-filter replacement service for homeowners, letting customers pick filter size and quality and choose how often replacements ship. The site offers over 40 filter sizes and three quality levels, and pricing is the same as retail but sold on a recurring basis. The company partners and co-locates with U.S. manufacturer Flanders to ship filters directly to customers at store cost. Since launching out of beta in March 2014, FilterEasy has signed up over 10,000 paying subscribers and is running at a revenue run rate of more than $1 million per year. The team of 13 plans to use new funding to expand marketing and is beta-testing a commercial program for businesses such as gyms and restaurants. FilterEasy was founded by former NCSU students Kevin Barry and Thad Tarkington and is based in Raleigh, N.C.; the founders participated in The Iron Yard accelerator in Greenville.

Led · Series A · Feb 2019

LCHF is the low-carb, high-fat consumer goods subsidiary of Disruptive Enterprises focused on helping people adopt ketogenic and low-carb lifestyles. The company formulates, markets, and distributes packaged products under the KetoLogic and FBOMB brands. It also sits alongside Disruptive Enterprises’ keto-medical foods arm, Disruptive Nutrition, which conducts clinical research and IP development. The business emphasizes convenient, high-fat alternatives and pioneering ketone therapies to replace processed food carbohydrates. LCHF plans to use recent financing to build distribution, innovate new products, and accelerate digital marketing. The company is presented in the article as pursuing both consumer product growth and medically oriented research collaborations.

Led · Equity · Nov 2018

Green Mountain CBD is a vertically integrated organic hemp grower and maker of high-quality cannabidiol (CBD) products. The company is based in Burlington, Vermont and was founded in 2015 by Alejandro Bergad and Jacob Goldstein. It plans to rebrand as SunSoil in early 2019. The business controls cultivation and manufacturing operations for its organic hemp and finished CBD product lines. In November 2018 the company raised $7M in funding from One Better Ventures. The funding will be used to increase production capacity, expand distribution and accelerate growth.

Led · Equity · Oct 2018

Remedy Review is a digital publishing company that produces evidence-based coverage of hemp, cannabidiol (CBD), hemp-based products, essential oils, and other natural health topics. It launched on October 1, 2018 and operates out of Three Ships, a Raleigh-based digital publisher and customer acquisition company. The company raised $2m in funding from One Better Ventures. Marc Lewis, a three-year veteran of Three Ships, was named Executive Editor and will build out a team of writers, photographers, and researchers over the next year. The media plans to assemble a panel of health professionals to review and approve content and to highlight products with clear testing protocols. Remedy Review aims to separate fact from fiction in the natural health product category through editorially focused, evidence-based content.