Welcome to CPGD’s brand new newsletter for investors.

We started this newsletter because hundreds of our existing 9,000+ subscribers expressed interest in investing in early stage CPG. So we started curating a Deal Flow Portal with vetted, early-access deals. As both our list of investors and deals grew, we decided to expand our offering into a totally separate newsletter.

Each newsletter will feature:

And to introduce myself: hi, 👋 I’m Lucy. I’ve been leading Partnerships at CPGD and will be curating these founder stories. I attended the University of Chicago and am currently an MBA student at Wharton.

Highlighting 3 amazing Founders who are raising right now…

The Scoop on Alec’s Ice Cream 🍦🍨

Series A: Raising $3.5M

Founder background: Alec Jaffe is the founder and CEO of Alec’s Ice Cream, the world’s first certified regenerative organic ice cream. A lifelong ice cream maker raised in a family passionate about sustainability, Alec believed that ice cream can taste great and do good for our planet. Prior to founding Alec’s Ice Cream, Alec worked in corporate sponsorships at Anschutz Entertainment Group and was a member of the University of Southern California football team.

What was the inspiration behind Alec’s Ice Cream? I've been making ice cream since I was a little kid and grew up around family members very involved in sustainable agriculture. Later on while working in tech, I noticed that there wasn't an ice cream that tasted amazing and talked about sustainability. I knew you could create an incredibly indulgent ice cream using the best ingredients that make a positive impact on our environment. 

What does your company do or what problem does it aim to solve? We are the world's first and only organic regenerative ice cream and our award-winning flavors are made with gut-friendly A2 dairy. We aim to make a delicious ice cream that helps repair our planet and leaves you feeling great.

Anything you’d like our readers to know? With distribution in 2,000 stores across the country, we are the fastest growing organic ice cream brand in the US!

Flow Empowerment: Introducing Viv, Your Sustainable & Toxin-free Period Care 👩🏽🌎

Seed: Raising $2M

Founder background: Katie Diasti is the Founder & CEO of Viv period care. Viv’s mission is to provide better for people with periods by creating sustainable and toxin-free products. Katie began building Viv at Boston College and launched Viv in April 2021. Viv has raised $1 million in capital and can now be found in over 2,000 retail doors across the US, as well as direct to consumers on their website and on Amazon. Katie was a Forbes 30 Under 30 Local Boston lister and BostInno 25 Under 25. Viv has been featured in major publications like Forbes, Boston Globe, Allure, Bustle, & more. Viv’s goal is to create an inclusive and empowered community led by education to bring a new approach to modern health ed.

What was the inspiration behind Viv? I was inspired to start Viv because the period care aisle was a daunting and stale place to me. I felt insecure walking through the aisle rather than empowered. When I learned about the toxins and excessive plastic waste in traditional period care, I was stunned and wanted to bring a new wave to an outdated category. I had spent multiple nights a week volunteering at a women's shelter and one of my roles was to distribute period products to the women that came in, so the menstrual equity aspect of Viv has always been at our core.

What does your company do or what problem does it aim to solve? Viv is an earth-friendly and toxin-free period care brand for the modern menstruator with an education-first approach. We have an omni-channel approach, selling both DTC via our website, on Amazon and in major natural grocery and convenience store chains like CVS, Central Market, Wegmans, Stop & Shop & more. Viv is now available in over 2,000 retail doors across the US, and we've done so with a lean 3 person team. Viv has a strong social media following of Gen-Zers who we engage with our content through education, inclusivity, and activism. We've raised $1M in funding to date and now we are raising a $2M seed round to support growth.

Any exciting initiatives coming up? We recently launched into all Meijer doors and we have some exciting natural grocery launches coming in 2024!

Brutally Honest and Delicious Brutal Snacks 🫘😋

Pre-Revenue: Raising $150k

Founder background: Gaby Macias is the founder of Brutal snacks. She has been in the food and service industry since 2015. In 2020, she and her husband Juan Xavier started to brainstorm different opportunities in the U.S. market where they ultimately wanted to launch their brand.

What was the inspiration behind Brutal? 95% of snack food in US is made with ingredients that are dangerous for our body and the planet, so we saw an opportunity. Seeing these numbers, we had one goal in mind and that was to CHANGE HOW AMERICANS EAT, be part of this wave that are with natural ingredients and create ONE SNACK IN ONE MEAL. We notice people were doing more "healthy" products, but it still had bad fats and other dangerous ingredients so our focus is the WHOLE PACKAGE. Never settle for less.

What does your company do or what problem does it aim to solve? Our hero ingredient is the ANDEAN LUPINI bean. It has the most protein in the world and is a regenerative and sustainable crop with a low carbon and hydro footprint. Brutal snacks have better fats, no seed oils, and we use the best extra virgin coconut oil and natural ingredients. It's hard to be authentic in a world were everybody wants to be like everyone else, but we encourage you to be brutally honest and yourself in the most raw possible way. That’s what we aim to bring out in everyone with our snacks.

Any exciting initiatives coming up? We are going to officially launch in the market at EXPO WEST 2024! We’ll be launching with Amazon in the beginning and in the first month, we will enter to local & independents in SoCal.

Liked the spotlights above? Check out our Deal Flow Portal (password = betterforyou) for a full list of vetted CPG startups currently raising! We refresh this portal every month with new brands.

And if you’d like an intro to the founders, feel free to reach out ([email protected])!

-Lucy