Banking & Finance  July 15, 2015

Wilde Brands raises $1.6M to boost line of meat-based protein bars

BOULDER — Wilde Brands LLC, maker of a new line of meat-based protein snack bars, recently raised nearly $1.6 million in new funding that it will use to grow distribution and beef up sales and marketing.

The Boulder-based company launched into Alfalfa’s Market and Lucky’s Market stores locally in May. But co-founder and chief executive Jason Wright said Whole Foods Market’s Rocky Mountain region stores will be next, starting Aug. 1.

Wright founded the company with Bear Naked and Evol Foods co-founder Brendan Synnott, food scientist and Spork and Ladle managing director Derek Spors, and JR Crosby, CEO of Austin, Texas, branding firm Ptarmak.

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Wilde Brands bars are 30-gram slow-baked bars made up of about 60-percent meat and infused with other ingredients such as quinoa, chia seed, spices, fruits and vegetables. The company uses hormone- and antibiotic-free meat, including grass-fed beef, pasture-raised bison, and free-range turkey in the bars, which are also gluten-free.

The goal, Wright said, was to go for a meat-based bar but in more the style of a granola bar or fruit and nut bar than jerky. Because Wilde is using a new baking process to ensure the shelf life of the products, the USDA required that the company have its process validated in a study done by Colorado State University.

The new funding was raised from several investors through equity crowdfunding site CircleUp, which also invested about $450,000 in the round through its own investment fund.

Wright declined to disclose startup costs or revenues so far, noting that, “We’re just fresh out of the gate. We have a lot of interest from a lot of buyers.”

The company has an office at 2400 Central Ave. in Boulder, where the company bases its research and development and sales and marketing efforts. Wilde’s bars are manufactured with a copacker in Denver. Wright is the only full-time employee now, along with a few part-timers, though he said he’d likely be adding operations help soon.

If things go well, Wright is hoping to break into larger general grocery stores by next year sometime.

“The plan was really to grow through the natural industry first to brand it and get brand awareness out there,” Wright said.

BOULDER — Wilde Brands LLC, maker of a new line of meat-based protein snack bars, recently raised nearly $1.6 million in new funding that it will use to grow distribution and beef up sales and marketing.

The Boulder-based company launched into Alfalfa’s Market and Lucky’s Market stores locally in May. But co-founder and chief executive Jason Wright said Whole Foods Market’s Rocky Mountain region stores will be next, starting Aug. 1.

Wright founded the company with Bear Naked and Evol Foods co-founder Brendan Synnott, food scientist and Spork and Ladle managing director Derek Spors, and JR Crosby, CEO of Austin, Texas, branding…

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