WASHINGTON — Little Sesame began its journey in 2018 as a small, Mediterranean-inspired restaurant in Washington founded by Nick Wiseman and Ronen Tenne. The co-founders wanted to offer hummus as a dish at the restaurant. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, consumers began to take the hummus dip to-go, prompting the founders to take their product to store shelves.
Furthering its journey, Little Sesame recently raised a seed round with investments from Santatera Capital, an early-stage fund that invests globally in startups in the food and beverage industries; Watchfire Ventures an early-stage venture capital firm; and Terpsi Capital, a venture capital firm focusing on the food and beverage industries.
The investment will enable Little Sesame to deepen its supply chain, scale its manufacturing capacity, expand its corporate team and invest in marketing efforts, according to the company.
Little Sesame also has its own manufacturing facilities to produce the hummus. Through this, Little Sesame also received a grant from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Organic Market Development with the seed round, according to the company.
“We're excited to have assembled a group of leading CPG (consumer packaged goods) investors to bring Little Sesame to the national stage and help us deliver on our mission to serve the best quality hummus to more consumers and preserve more acres in regenerative agriculture across the US,” Wiseman said. “We are building the future of the hummus category, and proving it's possible to make food that's good for you and good for the planet at the same time. “
Santatera Capital said it saw the potential in Little Sesame with its fresh ingredients that include organic chickpeas, fresh lemon juice, tahini, extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and garlic. Santatera capital also said it was attracted to Little Sesame’s regenerative supply chain and reputation of being a pioneer in a niche category.
Santatera Capital has invested in such companies as Tia Lupita Foods, Mezcla, Wildwonder, Onda, Miche Mix, Velozbio, BeanVivo, Birdman and Hiyo.
“This is an exciting investment that reinforces our commitment with our LPs to support with smart capital companies and entrepreneurs who are leading the change in the way consumers eat, through innovative and conscious products,” said Alejandro Gonzalez, managing partner of Santatera Capital. “Nick and Ronen are true outliers with whom we are committed to build a scalable, valuable and impactful company.”Enjoying this content? Learn about more disruptive startups on the Food Entrepreneur page.
