Fruitist Holdings Inc., a Century City-based food products brand, raised $150 million in equity financing, the company announced.
The company has raised $443 million in equity to date, according to a company statement. Magami said the most recent financing round was structured in a vehicle managed by J.P Morgan Asset Management, based in New York City.
“At Fruitist, we’re proving that fresh, flavorful and nutritious snacks can scale globally, and that fruit when done right, can truly compete with the snack aisle,” said Steve Magami, the brand’s cofounder, chief executive officer and executive chairman, in a prepared statement. “Consumer demand continues to fuel our growth, and we’re thrilled to welcome J.P. Morgan Asset Management as a well-established partner to help us meet that growing demand.”
Brad Demong, a managing director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, said Fruitist’s unique business model helped the company develop a superior product.
“We believe that Fruitist, with control of its value chain, significant organic growth opportunity ahead and positioning as a driving force of premiumization of berries and the better-for-you category, will realize durable expansion,” Demong said.
Future plans
Fruitist will invest some proceeds of its recent round of funding in further developing artificial intelligence technology, which can predict the best harvest time for the brand’s agricultural products, Magami said. Fruitist’s products are sold at 12,500 retail locations in North America including Costco and Trader Joe’s, he said.
The past 12 months have been marked by big announcements from Fruitist. Recent news included an official name change in April to align the company name with its signature product Fruitist Jumbo Blueberries. The company was previously known as Agrovision.
In September, Fruitist appointed two new members to its board of directors. In that same month, Fruitist hired Rich Sullivan as its new chief financial officer. Sullivan previously served as the chief financial officer for SurveyMonkey Inc.
The pace of action at the company over the last year created wide speculation that Fruitist was setting its sights on preparing for an initial public offering. In January, Bloomberg reported Fruitist was considering a stock launch. The company declined to comment about a possible IPO.
