Swedish founded N!CK’S healthier ice cream and snacks brand gains $100 million development funds
Swedish-founded healthy snacks and ice cream business N!CK’S has confirmed raising $100 million towards expanding its product portfolio and aiming to double the level of its global retail stores, reports Neill Barston.
As the as innovative food-tech company explained, its latest round of investment is being led by Kinnevik, Ambrosia Investments and Temasek, with Gullspång, an early backer of brands including Oatly, Peak Bridge, Capagro and Nicoya.
The funding will be used to further bolster European and North American growth, through expanding the product portfolio and doubling N!CK’S store count in 2022. N!CK’S will also make significant investments in R&D efforts concentrated on innovative solutions that make the world a healthier place. Other priorities include hiring key talent and strategic marketing initiatives.
According to the business, its proprietary and exclusive food-science ingredients offer an authentic texture to popular treats, with fewer fat calories and no added sugar. Established by founder Niclas Luthman (Nick), N!CK’S launched in Stockholm in 2017, and is currently providing its products to millions of customers across 16 international markets, including the UK and US.
Notably, the company has already achieved a number of milestones, including UK listings in WHSmith, becoming the highest selling new snack bar series on Amazon, and expanding from 4,500 US stores to 6,700 in the US last year. The company also doubled its year-over-year ice cream business in home market of Sweden, and created a US direct-to-consumer pint ice cream delivery brand since July 2021, as well as releasing a vegan dairy line.
“Healthier lifestyles and nutritional science just got a 100 million dollar boost,” said Niclas Luthman, Founder & Head of R&D. “My dream is to change our relationship with snacking into an entirely positive thing. This investment round will make our message heard, and fuel the massive R&D effort ahead of us in making more and more snacks better-for-you and better for the planet.”
Mirroring the trajectory of other Swedish breakout startups including Oatly, Skype and Spotify, N!CK’S has quickly achieved a category leading position in markets across the globe. Notably, after only 24 months on shelf in the US, N!CK’S has become the dominant better-for-you ice cream as measured by same store velocity in US IRI data the past year.
“We are very excited that our investors, new and current, continue to believe in and want to be part of our journey to provide fantastic snacking experiences without compromising our consumers’ health. This investment will enable us to continue revolutionising the global snacking market with groundbreaking innovation,” said Stefan Lagerqvist, Group CEO (pictured) main image)
Sharing his enthusiasm for the move, Magnus Jakobson, Investment Director at Kinnevik, believed the next phase of development for the business would prove critical.
He said: “We are incredibly excited to support N!CK’S on their mission of providing consumers with more choices of healthy ice cream and snacks. When we look at potential food investments, we look for companies that are addressing and taking advantage of tail winds within consumption patterns, the importance of health and sustainability. N!CK’S fits squarely into these areas and we have been impressed by the strong market traction across the US and Europe, we look forward to joining their journey of building a global brand.”
