Young alt-meat startup Hooray Foods, which has been crafting plant-based bacon in its San Francisco Mission District headquarters and test kitchen since 2019, has raised another $2.7 million in funding to fuel retail expansion and an updated product launch early next year, the company announced Tuesday.
The new money, the company's fifth tranche of seed funding, arrives via first-time investor David Hoffmann, CEO of Dunkin' from 2018 to 2020; Lyra Growth Partners; and re-ups from previous investors including Evolution VC Partners, Gaingels and Sand Hill Angels.
Since hitting the market just over a year ago and scoring early national distribution with Whole Foods, Hooray Foods — which has now raised a total of $7.2 million — has sold more than 2 million strips of bacon, broadened its distribution to nearly 1,000 stores across the U.S. and earlier this month entered the Canadian market via Sobeys and Safeway stores in British Columbia.
The additional funds will be channeled into scaling production and to debut an improved version of the bacon product in early 2022. The funds will also support further development of new products with the company's proprietary emulsion-forming technology, which it touts as a crucial differentiator from competing plant-based bacons in terms of replicating flavor and texture.
The pandemic drove Hooray Foods to pivot from early plans to launch in restaurants to instead prioritize retail partnerships with distributors including Amazon, Imperfect Foods, GTFO It's Vegan and independent retailers such as San Francisco's Plant Cafe. New investor Hoffmann hinted at a reengagement with this strategy in a statement Tuesday, expressing confidence that Hooray's bacon "will become a must-have on the menus at thousands of quick-service restaurants and sit-down establishments."
Hooray Foods bacon is made from a base of tapioca starch, rice flour and coconut oil and a flavor from mushroom (umami) seasoning, maple syrup, liquid smoke and salt. Each strip runs about 60 calories, pre-fried — with less fat and about the same amount of sodium as conventional bacon. The product is compatible with soy-free, gluten-free and vegan diets, and the company also touts the simple ingredient list compared with other meat alternative competitors.
