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F3C’s family fund and founder community announced $25 million in new capital commitments and a focus on becoming the largest community of founders co-investing in late-stage seed and Series A rounds of consumer brands.
General partners Kurt Seidensticker, founder of Essential Protein; Sean Kelly, founder of SnackNation and Caro; And Josh Wand, founder of Forcebrands, has brought together more than 50 founders and CEOs, including Amanda Baldwin at SuperGoop, Tyler Ricks at SuperCoffee, Jake Kasan at MVMT and Jordan Bass at HOP WTR.
They support and advise founders leading consumer and consumer-technology brands with new venture funds. We’ve seen another consumer brand founder do this recently: Kind Snacks founder Daniel Lubezki plans to deploy $350 million into consumer brands through his new VC firm Camino Partners.
Kelly told TechCrunch that F3C’s “secret sauce” is that they are all operators, so they know first-hand the startup journey and what it takes to grow a successful company.
Not only did they invest, but the first successful founders and operators recalled finding people to help shape Caro’s strategy. In fact, they helped the business see when it was needed, he said. If early-stage founders can access such a deep network early on, it can really help, Kelly added.
And while some venture capital firms only provide financial support, F3C’s focus is on consulting and expanding its network of partners and suppliers, or helping the company’s operations, marketing and logistics.
“It was important to me to create a team of experienced founders who could provide support and advice to entrepreneurs throughout their journey,” Kurt Seidensticker said in an email. “Having such mentors to offer their learnings and first-hand insights not only gives founders the right strategy to accelerate growth and create major brands.”
F3C is looking for companies with sustainable value for investment that can achieve profitability due to positive unit economics and good recurring behavior, Kelly said.
The new fund has made nine major investments to date, including Flossy, a pay-as-you-go dental services company; Elemin Technologies develops a new wearable that alters brain waves with ultrasound to help you adjust your behavior and sleep even better. Hopwater, a non-alcoholic drink; and Ghost, a supplement and energy drink company.
“We believe the consumer ecosystem is really sustainable,” Wand said in an interview. “When you look at our active network of founders, everything we do is supportive of not just brands, but across the entire consumer ecosystem. We want to do great.”
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