BOU Announces $4 Million Series B Round
Funding to fuel innovation of better-for-you cooking and grab-and-go products, increase brand awareness and support growing roster of major retail partners
NEW YORK, Nov. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- BOU, the better for you line of cooking and grab-and-go products, announced today a $4 Million Series B investment. To date, the innovative brand has raised $6.8 Million.
A number of strategic investors within the food and beverage industry invested in the round. This included Andy Gellert (President of the Gellert Group), the founding investors of SodaStream, Shelly Stein (President of Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits), BOU Founder and CEO Robert Jakobi, and two New York based VC funds, FounderMade and Nebari Ventures.
This round of funding will allow BOU to implement its vision of bringing consumers back to the stores' center aisles by offering great tasting, healthier and convenient products. The company will also utilize the funds to fuel company growth, further strengthen brand awareness and support ongoing innovation.
Since launching in 2017, BOU has expanded its product line from bouillon cubes to gravy cubes, soup cups and more recently, miso cubes. The company is growing rapidly with an increase of 500% in sales YTD in 2018 and a projection of over $14 Million in sales in 2019. The company has also drastically increased its number of rooftops in just over a year and is now sold in more than 5,000 total rooftops nationwide. Major retailers include Whole Foods, Sprouts, Safeway/Albertson's, Jewel-Osco, Wegman's, Harris Teeter, Meijer and many others.
"We are thrilled to secure the capital necessary to continue to aggressively grow our brand and support our mission of bringing people back to the center aisle of stores with better for you and convenient cooking and grab-and-go options," said BOU Founder and CEO Robert Jakobi. "After looking extensively at this category, and noticing that home cooking is on the rise, we are confident that BOU will be the key to enhancing flavor to everything that can be cooked without sacrificing quality or flavor."
"With this fundraiser, we will look to increase our brand awareness and visibility across multiple channels and continue to support our retail partners, which have grown immensely over the last year, said BOU Co-Founder and COO Kunal Kohli. "We are excited to continue creating exciting and innovative products using our proprietary process of making healthier, hassle-free cubes for years to come. BOU Soup Cups are just the beginning!"
"BOU is disrupting a stale category with better for your food products and innovative branding that resonates with the millennial consumer," said Nebari Ventures Founder Alex Malamatinas. "We are very pleased with the recent launch of the soup cups and are excited about the potential of this high velocity product in a large category that will continue to fuel the company's growth."
For more information about all of BOU's product lines, visit www.bouforyou.com.
About BOU
BOU is a better for you line of cube-based products for creative cooks at all skill levels. Launched in 2017, BOU is quickly growing and is available in over 5,000 locations nationwide. Using a US-based proprietary manufacturing process, BOU uses natural, non-GMO ingredients to produce hassle free flavor at your fingertips with a minimum of 30 percent less sodium than the other leading brands. BOU is a kitchen must-have for elevating the flavor of any meal from soups to stews, grilled meats to vegetable stir-fries, etc.
SOURCE BOU Brands LLC
Share this article