Functional mushroom chocolate brand Alice Mushrooms has secured an undisclosed raise led by L Catterton with participation from actors Zac Efron, Pedro Pascal and Kevin Hart. They join existing brand backers Jason Strauss, co-chief executive officer of Tao Group, and former chief medical correspondent for ABC News and Alice’s medical adviser Dr. Jennifer Ashton.
Alice Mushrooms, which launched in October 2022 on a mission to promote functional mushrooms and make wellness indulgent, currently has three functional chocolates: Brainstorm, $29, to promote focus; Happy Ending, $29, to boost arousal, and Nightcap, $29, to support sleep. At the time of launch, the brand had secured a small pre-seed investment from former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo.
Alice Mushrooms
Courtesy
“We made a point to not over raise or overspend because we honestly had no idea what was actually going to happen once we put the product into the market. Then we launched, and everything changed,” said cofounder Lindsay Goodstein. “We were sold out only a few months into the business.”
After about two years in business, however, the brand was ready to raise and L Catterton was an ideal partner.
“We bonded with the team at L Catterton right away. It was one of those things that felt like a puzzle, and it became a perfect fit because not only were they right out of the gate, aligned with our vision, saw the potential for the business and saw the potential for the category as a whole, but the team that we work with at L Catterton is led by two women,” said Alice cofounder Charlotte Cruze.
Whitney Casey, partner at L Catteron who led the deal, said in a statement: “Alice Mushrooms distinguishes itself with its innovative branding and unique product offerings that connect with a new generation of consumers. This investment aligns with our strategy to support forward-thinking companies in the VMS (vitamins, minerals, supplements) space. We look forward to partnering with Alice and supporting their mission to transform the wellness market.”
While L Catterton has had its sights set on the wellness category, most recently acquiring Naomi Watts’ menopause brand Stripes, Alice’s cap table includes several celebs.
“We built this really cool group of people who have incredible reach, who have amazing industry experience, who are super strategic, who understand food as medicine,” said Cruze. “This came about organically. As the brand grew, we got a lot of exciting attention.”
Efron, Hart and Pascal also recently invested in Dr. Mark Hyman’s diagnostic health platform Function.
According to Goodstein, this raise will go toward retail expansion, product development and team growth.
“To hint a few things, we have new formulations [and] limited-edition flavor drops of our existing chocolates,” Goodstein said. “We’ll be using our chocolate as an ingredient in collaboration with some of our favorite brands coming up.”
Alice, which is available at Erewhon, Pop Up Grocer and other specialty retailers, has previously secured several buzzy collabs with other companies like Fleur du Mal.
“We see it as very tactical and strategic, given that we are still creating a new category,” said Cruze. “Partnering with brands that have established reputations and that have all of this market awareness help to make mushrooms more mainstream.”
The team hinted at a cameo on the “big screen” coming next spring. In the fourth quarter, the brand also will be revealing a national grocer and department store retail launch. According to Goodstein, the brand was in about 200 retail doors at the start of 2024 and is expected to close the year with 1,000, though direct-to-consumer has been the largest channel.
While the brand declined to share specific sales figures or the details of the raise, the team noted the brand is on track to exceed eight figures this year and has experienced 175 percent year-over-year growth.
