Welcoming HumanCo to the PLUS Collective
We are excited to announce our investment in a company revolutionizing what “better-for-you” truly means: HumanCo.
A fundamental tenet of our investing at PLUS is to back companies that are better for the world and the beings on it. We’re proud to have invested in several companies we believe are successfully improving life for people everywhere, whether by providing access to mental health services, the opportunity to grow at work, and more. With our investment in HumanCo, we have the chance to improve the physical health of people and the planet.
The label “healthy” can be found on the packaging of sugary cereals and keto protein bars alike. When we walk into a supermarket, should we prioritize organic or gluten-free or non-GMO or vegan or wild-caught, and what are the effects of these choices on our health and on the environment? We ask similar questions even beyond the supermarket, as we sift through options to try to choose the right sunscreen, laundry detergent, beauty product, or even sleep or general health tracking technologies and tools. The team at HumanCo believes that humans have lost trust in consumer products amidst the noise, and they have a solution. By developing a long-term strategy around impactful, clean consumer products, they hope to rebuild trust with the consumer and provide an option consumers don’t need to scrutinize or Google to know it is healthy and sustainable.
The team is drawing on founder Jason H. Karp’s experience as both an investor and an entrepreneur. Jason’s experience in building and growing Hu, a paleo-inspired healthy snacking brand (best known for their award-winning, organic chocolate) which recently sold to Mondelez for a purported record valuation, catalyzed his decision to create HumanCo. They are creating a mission-driven holding company of uniquely-positioned, private businesses in the $4.2 trillion health and wellness category, and are helping those brands scale in a smart way, providing them access to capital, deep strategic and operational expertise, proprietary data analytics and coaching by top scientists, founders and operators.
HumanCo currently owns three brands: Coconut Bliss (organic, plant-based frozen desserts), Monty’s (plant-based cheese, butter and dairy products) and Snow Days (organic, grain-free comfort foods starting with pizza bites). These products are sustainable, based on whole foods and taste delicious. We’re thrilled to work with one of our artists to amplify these brands — as well as future launches — and continue to rebuild consumer trust in products.
We’re grateful to Jason and the rest of the HumanCo team for including us in their stellar group of investors, and are excited to play a small role in moving the health of people and the planet in the right direction, one ice cream scoop, cream cheese-y toast, and pizza bite (and much more to come) at a time.
