Company backed by Mark Cuban and Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures to accelerate growth plans with this new round of funding
PORTLAND, Ore., April 26, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Neutral Foods, the first carbon-neutral food company in the United States, announced it has closed an exclusive round of funding from celebrity investors who share its vision of developing a more sustainable food system.
The capital raise follows continued national expansion into Whole Foods Market and other grocery store chains around the country, as Neutral now focuses on its Series A round of funding.
"Thanks to this early round of funding and belief in our brand and mission, we are well poised to continue to raise funds and awareness for our dairy products that consumers can immediately feel great about buying," said Marcus Lovell Smith, CEO, Neutral Foods. "We make it so simple for consumers as every single purchase of our milk and half-and-half helps fight climate change."
Darco Capital's David Adelman led the celebrity round of funding, bringing in LeBron James and his business partner Maverick Carter, David Rubenstein's Shorewind Capital, and musicians John Legend, and Questlove. Model, author, and entrepreneur, Emily Ratajkowski and her husband producer, Sebastian Bear-Mclard, also joined the round with professional soccer player Carlos Bocanegra, and NBA stars Tobias Harris and Kevin Love. The investors join previous stakeholders Mark Cuban and Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, supporting Neutral's mission to radically reduce agriculture's carbon footprint.
"Neutral is a game-changer in three critical ways; Neutral helps dairy farmers make more money, Neutral fights climate change, and Neutral gives customers the opportunity to continue consuming the same great traditional dairy products that they've been doing for hundreds of years," said Jake Poliskin, head of investments, Darco Capital.
Neutral works directly with dairy farmers to reduce the carbon footprint of their products, by implementing various strategies to drive down carbon emissions. What cannot be reduced is offset by purchasing carbon credits from U.S. dairy farmers who turn cow emissions into renewable energy.
"The way we produce and consume food now is unsustainable. It won't last, because it can't. If we care about our planet, we have to invest in companies that are replacing old ideas with newer, better ones. Neutral is one of those companies," said Questlove, musician, filmmaker, investor and culinary entrepreneur.
Named by Whole Foods Market as part of its top 10 trends for 2022, Neutral's carbon-neutral milk is now on shelves in nearly 500 Whole Foods Market stores with additional availability in another 200 regional and independent grocers. They include New Seasons Market (Oregon), Central Market (Texas), Earth Fare (Southeast), and online grocer, Imperfect Foods (OR and WA). Upcoming launches include Sprouts Farmers Market (national), Erewhon (SoCal), Bristol Farms (SoCal), and Haggen, a division of Albertsons in the Northwest. Neutral is distributed nationally by United Natural Foods Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) and KeHE. The company will be in more than 1,200 stores by the summer and close to double that by the end of the year.
"I'm inspired to help people live their healthiest lives and that includes doing what we can to protect the environment," said Kevin Love, professional basketball player. "Neutral is revolutionizing the food industry, giving consumers an easy way to make daily choices that positively affect our carbon footprint."
To learn more about Neutral, please visit https://www.eatneutral.com. For photos, please click here.
About Neutral Foods
Neutral Foods, the first carbon-neutral food company in the United States, offers carbon-neutral dairy products nationwide. It's on a mission to radically reduce the 37 % of greenhouse gas emissions produced by our food system. Started in 2019 in Portland, Oregon, Neutral is a national brand that works directly with farmers to reduce the carbon footprint of dairy products - for good. Neutral has organic and conventional carbon-neutral solutions for retail, foodservice, and ingredient needs and intends to broaden its impact with additional agricultural foods.
About Darco Capital / David Adelman
Darco Capital is the family office and investment vehicle of billionaire entrepreneur and investor, David Adelman. Darco Capital has made over 60 early-stage investments ranging across climate tech, transportation, food, and sports & media such as Remora Carbon, Wheelsup, Fanatics, Regent, Neutral, Living Carbon, Settle, Moov Technologies, and more. David is the Vice-Chairman/Co-Founder of FS Investments, a leading manager of alternative investment funds with $25B of AUM, and the CEO/chairman of Campus Apartments, a national leader in student housing development and management with more than $2B in AUM across 17 states.
Media Contact
Abby Roedel, Neutral, 1 917-209-5454, [email protected]
SOURCE Neutral
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