NEW YORK — Hu Products (Hu Chocolate), maker of organic, paleo and vegan chocolate, has closed a Series A funding round led by Sonoma Brands, a food and beverage products incubator and venture fund led by Jon Sebastiani. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Hu Chocolate, founded by Jason Karp, his wife Jessica Karp and his brother-in-law Jordan Brown, began as part of Hu Kitchen, a paleo-inspired fast-casual restaurant in New York. The Hu brand uses organic, fair trade cacao and 70% stone ground dark chocolate to produce its vegan, certified gluten-free and non-G.M.O. chocolate bars. Varieties include almond butter and puffed quinoa, cashew butter and vanilla bean, hazelnut butter, Vanilla Quinoa Qrispy, salty, simple, crunchy mint and crunchy banana.
“We are thrilled to have found a strategic partner in Sonoma Brands,” said Jason Karp, chairman and co-founder of Hu. “We look forward to what this relationship will help us accomplish as we move to advance our distribution and exposure in the coming months. With the support of Sonoma Brands, along with several other highly strategic investors, we will accelerate the conversation around the need for more vegan, paleo and unprocessed foods and bolster our platform as a mission-driven health and wellness business.”
Hu Chocolate joins Krave Jerky, Smashmallow, Dang Foods and Züpa Noma in Sonoma Brands’ investment portfolio.
“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with a brand that is right on par with our background,” Mr. Sebastiani said. “Providing unique experiences with 100% vegan products, Hu Chocolate is a true category disrupter in the vegan/paleo world, showcasing ingredient integrity and culinary influence that resonates deeply with our team. We believe that Hu will change brand standards across a variety of product verticals by delivering its rigorous ingredient integrity and transparency, and we’re excited to be a part of that future and the Hu story.”
Additional investors in the funding round include Mark Hyman, Tim Ferriss, Nelson Peltz and Peter Attia.