SWEDEN – Swedish healthy snacks company, Nick’s is set to expand its presence in the better for you snack market following a successful series C funding where it raised US$100 million.
Kinnevik, Ambrosia Investments, and Temasek led the funding round along with Gullspång, an early investor in Oatly.
Nick’s describes itself as a ‘better-for-you snack brand that delivers “the experience of full fat, full sugar snacks with a fraction of the calories and no added sugar”.
The company says it will use the funding from the latest round to expand its portfolio of healthy snacks as well as bolster its distribution network.
The business will also make significant investments in R&D, which will be centered around innovative solutions. Other priorities include hiring key talent and strategic marketing initiatives.
Niclas Luthman, founder and head of R&D, commented: “Healthier lifestyles and nutritional science just got a 100-million-dollar boost. My dream is to change our relationship with snacking into an entirely positive thing.
This investment round will make our message heard and fuel the massive R&D effort ahead of us in making more and more snacks better-for-you and better for the planet.”
This mega-funding round tops off an already impressive year, during which the company was one of the first to offer animal-free dairy ice cream through a partnership with Perfect Day.
The company has also seen its retail footprint expand in the past year, both in stores and online. Nick’s is in about 6,700 U.S. stores today, up from about 4,500 in 2020, the company said.
In the past year, Nick’s has become the country’s dominant better-for-you ice cream as measured by same-store velocity, according to IRI data cited by the company.
Online, it’s been the top-selling direct-to-consumer ice cream pint since June, a trend that has contributed to the double-digit sales increases that the company has been seeing almost every month.
While the company’s innovations, expansions, and success in direct-to-consumer sales may have helped Nick’s meet that milestone, this funding can help push it further.
Using these funds to get Nick’s products in front of more consumers — whether through a larger retail footprint or more targeted marketing — is therefore likely to bring more growth.
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