Swedish Food-Tech Startup, N!CK'S, Accelerates Global Growth with $100 Million Equity Investment

SWEDEN, Oct. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- N!CK'S, the Swedish-born, global food-tech innovator of healthy and indulgent snacks and ice cream, today announced it has raised $100 million in Series C funding. The round is being led by Kinnevik, Ambrosia Investments and Temasek, with Gullspang, an early investor in Oatly, Peak Bridge, Capagro and Nicoya filling out the round.

The funding will be used to further bolster North American and European growth, through expanding their product portfolio and doubling N!CK'S store count in 2022. N!CK'S will also make significant investments in R&D efforts concentrated on innovative solutions that make the world a healthier place. Other priorities include hiring key talent and strategic marketing initiatives.

N!CK'S is the only better-for-you brand that promises consumers they don't have to compromise taste for health. They deliver on the promise through proprietary and exclusive food science ingredients which gives an authentic texture to treats consumers love, with fewer fat calories and no added sugar. Established by founder Niclas Luthman (Nick), N!CK'S launched in Stockholm in 2017, and is currently providing its products to millions of customers across 16 international markets, including the U.S. and U.K.

"Healthier lifestyles and nutritional science just got a 100 million dollar boost," said Niclas Luthman, Founder & Head of R&D. "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."

Mirroring the trajectory of other Swedish breakout startups including Oatly, Skype and Spotify, N!CK'S has quickly achieved a category leading position in markets across the globe. Notably, after only 24 months on shelf in the US, N!CK'S has become the dominant better-for-you ice cream as measured by same store velocity in U.S. IRI data the past year.

Other key milestones include:

• Expansion from 4,500 US stores in 2020 to 6,700 in 2021 in the US
• Secured countrywide listings in the UK with WHSmith
• #1 new snack bar release on Amazon
• Doubled the year-over-year ice cream business in home market of Sweden
• #1 U.S. direct-to-consumer pint ice cream delivery brand since July 2021
• Launched a vegan dairy line featuring Perfect Day's proprietary animal-free dairy proteins and plant-based alternative fat

"We are incredibly excited to support N!CK'S on their mission of providing consumers with more choices of healthy ice cream and snacks. When we look at potential food investments, we look for companies that are addressing and taking advantage of tail winds within consumption patterns, the importance of health and sustainability. N!CK'S fits squarely into these areas and we have been impressed by the strong market traction across the US and Europe, we look forward to joining their journey of building a global brand," says Magnus Jakobson, Investment Director at Kinnevik.

"We are very excited that our investors, new and current, continue to believe in and want to be part of our journey to provide fantastic snacking experiences without compromising our consumers' health. This investment will enable us to continue revolutionizing the global snacking market with groundbreaking innovation," said Stefan Lagerqvist, Group CEO.

"We've seen over the last year how much consumers trust N!CK'S to bring them outstanding tasting products with revolutionary nutritionals. Consumers can't get enough of our ice cream pints, protein bars and most recently our Cookie Krams. We can't wait to use this funding to bring more new N!CK'S products consumers love across more snacking categories," said Carlos Altschul, CEO North America.

For more information, please visit nicks.com.

About N!CK'S:
Founded in Sweden by Carl Backlund and Niclas Luthman in 2017, N!CK'S has expanded to 16 markets including the US and UK with their "Better For You" snacking treats. With a proprietary blend of sweeteners and exclusive patent protected ingredients, N!CK'S delivers the experience of full fat, full sugar snacks with a fraction of the calories and no added sugar.

Follow us at @nicks and @nicksicecreams on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tik Tok.

SOURCE N!CK's