February 3, 2016

Oakland, California-based, millennial-focused food startup, Back to the Roots ® has raised a significant $5 million seed round through a combination of public and private funding. What sets this round apart is that it was accomplished through a combination of public and private equity, with $3 million of the funding having been raised through the online crowdfunding platform, CircleUp. The round was led by Tony Robbins’ and Peter Guber’s accelerator, Agency of Trillions, and included previous investors, TOM’s founder, Blake Mycoskie, Annie’s founder, John Foraker, co-founder of Sweetgreen, Nicolas Jammet, and Cliff Bar CEO, Kevin Cleary.

Founded in 2009 by college seniors, Alejandro Velez and Nikhil Arora, Back to the Roots began through urban organic mushroom farming, but has grown its product line, adding 15 new products last year and bringing its portfolio to a total of 18 products including 100% stoneground breakfast cereals and Organic Breakfast Toppers.

“We see an exciting opportunity to ‘Undo Food™’, and continue to create a food company for this next generation that goes beyond natural/organic and focuses on radical transparency, sustainability, and great design. We want to bring the same level of trust that families feel when they grow their own food, directly to the grocery aisle and ready to eat food,” said co-founder, Alejandro Velez in a company statement.

The company plans to use the funding to support the product development of the ten additional new products it has in its pipeline for 2016, to expand its distribution, and to flesh out its management team. Already in 14,000 stores across the U.S., Kroger gave the startup shelf space beginning in January, and Sprouts will be selling their products beginning this month, while Arora and Velez are hopeful that they will be able to see their products available at Whole Foods through the store’s category reset in April, reports Food Navigator.

A portion of the funding will also be allocated to supporting the company’s expansion into K-12 schools. “We are in 500 schools now, but there are 100,000 K-12 schools. Just in New York, there are 5,000 single-serve cups of cereal served a day, so the potential is massive,” said Aurora to Food Navigator.

Although this is the first official round of fundraising by the company, Back to the Roots raised a $2 million convertible note in June 2015. However, prior to that, the company relied on competition prize awards, Kickstarter, and bank loans to support operations.

This round will remain open to accredited investors through CircleUp for the next thirty days.