A craft ice startup with roots in Bucks County has raised $4 million, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Lux Ice, which makes spheres of ice meant to last longer in drinks rather than dilute them like traditional options, is angling to become a mainstay in the beverage and cocktail industry nationally. News of the funding comes months after the company told PHL Inno in December that it was raising a Series A. At that time, the round was oversubscribed and exceeded the “max end” — a figure just over $2 million — for “millions on top of that," but CEO Shawn Kilcoyne declined to disclose the full amount.
The SEC filing did not identify investors in the round.
The company, which has operations in Langhorne, said the Series A would go toward expansion in Dallas, and the opening of a new facility there, which it said would happen in the first quarter of 2023. Documents filed with the SEC list an address in Flower Mound, Texas, a suburb northwest of Dallas and near the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
After establishing manufacturing facilities in Texas, Lux Ice said it would then look to expand to facilities on the East and West coasts in 2024.
The company could not immediately be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
Lux Ice was founded by Kilcoyne, who also co-founded frozen ice cream brand Mini Melts with his brother Dan. The Pennsylvania State University alum exited the company about a decade ago before launching and bringing Lux Ice to market in 2020. Kilcoyne said he expected the product to be in 10,000 locations by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Lux Ice is currently available in grocery stores like Wegmans and Weis Markets, liquor stores, and on delivery platforms Gopuff and Instacart. It saw 3,500% year-over-year growth on the latter platform as of December, Kilcoyne said.
Lux Ice comes in packages of six 2.36-inch spheres, which are roughly the size of a pool ball. A bag sells for $6.89 on Instacart via Wegmans, for example.
The company is backed by a handful of PepsiCo alums. One of its early investors is a former PepsiCo executive in innovation, its CFO was a longtime vice president at Frito-Lay and it also employs a former engineer from Frito-Lay.
The $4 million fundraising round, double the $2 million the company was originally looking to raise, notably comes in a difficult venture capital environment. Many startups across the country have struggled to raise multimillion-dollar rounds in the last year, deals that were commonplace throughout 2021 and early 2022.
