Dive Brief:
- Hampton Creek could achieve unicorn status as the company reportedly is finalizing a funding round that could value the company at about $1.1 billion, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.
- The company also raised a previously unreported funding round of "a little bit over $100 million," which valued Hampton Creek at about $750 million, according to Bloomberg.
- Cofounder and CEO Josh Tetrick told employees that a German media group will become part of a lineup of investors from Asia and the United Kingdom, and a “higher net wealth person in Silicon Valley,” someone who attended the meeting told Bloomberg.
Dive Insight:
Earlier this year, reports said that Hampton Creek was seeking $200 million to fund the company's expansion efforts, which the company expects will include more than 600 products from a wide variety of categories. It's unclear if or how much that funding round might end up contributing or if this latest announcement is at all related in that report.
Amid the potential funding news, Hampton Creek is also still dealing with reports that surfaced earlier this month concerning an apparent buyback strategy. Company employees bought Hampton Creek products from stores and called retailers asking for Hampton Creek products to boost demand, but Tetrick said this was part of a quality control situation. Bloomberg reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating whether this reported scheme broke the law.
While many major food companies are struggling, startups like Hampton Creek are often flourishing and leaching major companies' market share. If Hampton Creek does achieve unicorn status in the five years since its founding, the achievement could "demonstrate Tetrick’s ability to successfully market Hampton Creek as a technology company, rather than a more gravity-bound consumer products business," Bloomberg reported.