Eclipse Foods Shines With $40 Million Round

<p><strong>OAKLAND <&sol;strong>&&num;8212&semi; Eclipse Foods&comma; a maker of sustainable&comma; plant-based dairy products&comma; announced a Series B funding round of over &dollar;40 million led by Sozo Ventures with participation from leading funds&comma; including Forerunner Ventures&comma; Initialized Capital&comma; Gaingels&comma; and KBW Ventures&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With the latest round of funding&comma; Eclipse has raised over &dollar;60 million to date with investors including Seth Goldman&comma; the Chairman of Beyond Meat and Founder of Honest Tea&semi; Alexis Ohanian&comma; the Founder of Reddit&semi; Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed&comma; green tech venture capitalist&semi; and Y Combinator&comma; the world&&num;8217&semi;s top tech accelerator&period; The new funding will fuel the rapid growth of the business in retail and food service&comma; accelerate R&amp&semi;D on Eclipse&&num;8217&semi;s proprietary plant-based dairy platform&comma; build the brand&&num;8217&semi;s world-class team&comma; and drive awareness for Eclipse as the world&&num;8217&semi;s first true dairy replacement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1">&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;The number one reason consumers avoid plant-based dairy is taste&period; As self-proclaimed ice cream lovers&comma; our team at Sozo Ventures recognized that Eclipse&&num;8217&semi;s ice cream is in a league of its own after just one bite&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said <span class&equals;"xn-person">Bob Roe<&sol;span>&comma; Vice President of Narrative Development at Sozo Ventures&period; &&num;8220&semi;70&percnt; of the world&&num;8217&semi;s population is lactose intolerant and with the alternative protein space projected to grow to <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;1&period;4 trillion<&sol;span> by 2050&comma; Eclipse is positioned to completely transform the dairy industry with its proprietary plant-based dairy platform&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1">&NewLine;<p>The <span class&equals;"xn-location">Oakland<&sol;span>-based brand was co-founded in 2019 by <span class&equals;"xn-person">James Beard<&sol;span>-nominated chef&comma; <span class&equals;"xn-person">Thomas Bowman<&sol;span>&comma; and alternative protein expert&comma; <span class&equals;"xn-person">Aylon Steinhart<&sol;span>&comma; with the mission to create a more sustainable&comma; healthy and humane food system&period; Since then&comma; Eclipse has scaled faster and more efficiently than competitors in the space&comma; thanks to its plant-based dairy platform which uses a blend of non-GMO plants&comma; including cassava&comma; corn&comma; and potato&comma; to create virtually any plant-based dairy product&comma; from cheeses to spreads to desserts&comma; that replicate the taste&comma; texture and functionality of traditional dairy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;With 10 billion people to feed by 2050&comma; we recognized that global diets must change&comma;&&num;8221&semi; said <span class&equals;"xn-person">Aylon Steinhart<&sol;span>&comma; Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eclipse Foods&period; &&num;8220&semi;Consumers want more than just a dairy alternative like almond milk—they want a true replacement&period; Our plant-based dairy platform uses micelles &lpar;the microscopic magic of milk&rpar; to create the replacement products that consumers have been craving&comma; and our growth over the last three years is a testament to that&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Year over year&comma; Eclipse has grown its retail presence by 2100&percnt;&comma; with Whole Foods Market&comma; Albertsons&comma; Vons&comma; GoPuff and many other retailers stocking its pints&period; The brand is also dramatically expanding its food service partnerships&comma; working with restaurants&comma; burger chains&comma; ice cream shops&comma; stadiums&comma; and more&period; Eclipse most recently announced its partnership with Smashburger&comma; launching the first nationally available non-dairy milkshakes at a fast-casual restaurant chain and  the first plant-based menu item for the restaurant&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

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