Clearwater, FLA. — Heidi Krauss was promoted to chief executive officer at Base Culture, a maker of paleo, grain-free and gluten-free frozen baked foods.

Ms. Krauss joined the Clearwater, Fla.-based startup as chief operating officer in August 2019. Before that, she was chief operating officer at siggi’s yogurt. She has been a member of the board of directors at Quinoa Corp., parent company of Ancient Harvest and Pamela’s, since August 2020.

In her new role, Ms. Krauss will lead Base Culture’s expansion in both natural and conventional channels and oversee new product launches, said Jordann Windschauer, founder and former CEO.

“Base Culture started as a passion project of mine that I founded with minimal knowledge about product development and marketing,” Ms. Windschauer said. “However, I had an unwavering commitment to create something that met my clean eating paleo lifestyle, without compromising on flavor. I believe the reason behind the brand’s early success has been our commitment to the integrity of our products and the willingness to learn as we go. It was a huge decision to transition from CEO to a founder role, but I am confident that Heidi’s growth mindset is just what Base Culture needs as we continue to scale.”

The company also announced it closed a Series C funding round led by Emil Capital Partners. Combined with last year’s funding, the Series C adds more than $5 million of investment, Base Culture said.

“We are grateful to Jordann, as she transitions out of the CEO role, for founding and shepherding this extraordinary business through its rapid growth to date,” said Marcel Bens, managing partner and COO at Emil Capital Partners. “We look forward to her continued and invaluable involvement. Under Heidi’s leadership, Base Culture will build on these strong foundations and further execute across strategic priorities to bring to market more innovative products sought out by consumers.”