Pivoted as a collaborative model for high-growth consumer brands to engage more effectively with their investors and better scale their businesses, Humble Growth, a $312 million growth equity firm led by three CPG veterans, has officially launched.
Managing Partner Nick Giannuzzi, famed consumer lawyer who has helped facilitate a number of notable transactions in the space, including Coca-Cola’s
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RXBar and Orgain have previously been acquired by breakfast cereal giant Kellogg
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“We’re honored to officially launch Humble Growth and work closely with founders to propel their brands to new heights,” said Abraham, who initially came up with the firm’s moniker for a different food business. “I really loved what it stands for, and how it allows us to take on a completely new approach to building brands compared to many traditional private equity funds today, and leading them with humility.”
More importantly, “we’ve built, scaled and exited our own brands, and understand the ongoing challenges founders face when growing their brands firsthand,” Abraham added. “With Humble Growth, we’re taking that knowledge and working alongside founders to support their mission and bring an empathetic perspective to scaling operations.”
Strategic Limited Partners & Investing Criteria
The initial close of Humble Growth stood at $220 million with only about 15% of the firm’s entire $312 million raise coming directly from its founders. A group of strategic limited partners whom Humble Growth describes as “icons and game-changers” in CPG, including RXBar’s co-founder Jared Smith, BodyArmor’s co-founder Mike Repole, Stonyfield Farm’s co-founder Gary Hirshberg, as well as Brussels-headquartered investment company Verlinvest SA and Nestlé Health Science, also contributed significantly to the fundraise.
Humble Growth offers average check sizes between $10 million and $40 million to profitable companies generating at least $10 million in annual revenue, and it has so far invested in three undisclosed companies with a few more in due diligence.
“We can’t say their names, but one of them is in our sweet spot as it relates to protein and supplements, and we’ll help them propel in retail,” Abraham mentioned, adding how perfect alignment with team members is another key metric for potential investments. Humble Growth’s goal is to help finance 12 to 14 companies in the coming years.
Commenting on its support of Humble Growth, Roberto Italia, CEO of Verlinvest, wrote me via email: “As consumer investors, we’ve known Andrew, Nick, and Peter for many years now, and have watched with admiration as they’ve built successful businesses.
“When we heard about their plans for Humble Growth, we knew it was something Verlinvest should be involved in – given our shared passion for backing the consumer brands of tomorrow, and the expert support we believe they can provide for earlier-stage companies on their own growth journeys. I’m excited to be joining a fantastic group of co-investors, and to see the team’s unique experience in action over the coming months.”
The vast network of limited partners, with their combined expertise across sales, marketing, manufacturing, was intentionally built to support Humble Growth’s portfolio in all aspects, according to Giannuzzi, which can help effectively reduce cost of goods and improve operational efficiency.
“All our LPs are ingredient suppliers and distributors like family-owned Big Geyser in New York City, to the top executive team at BodyArmor,” Giannuzzi said. “We’ve also got 10-15 investors who have built their own factories in case one of our companies is ready to transition out of outsourced manufacturing.”
Hands-On Leadership By Brand Operators
In a realm often characterized by fierce competition, astronomical figures, and short-term gains, Humble Growth sets itself apart from conventional funds by reinvesting its total 2% management fee into building a best-in-class team. “Our economics are a bit unique because we [as founders] aren’t taking salaries or making a profit from the management fee — we’ll either use it to pay our employees or to make sure we have the best resources,” said Giannuzzi. “That’s really important to us because we trust and have built long-term relationships with the people we raised money from, and we like the symmetry of getting rewarded when they’re rewarded.”
Rahal and Abraham’s past experiences of scaling brands are also translatable to advising Humble Growth’s companies, enabling them to collaborate more empathetically. Their strength, Rahal believes while recalling his previous journey of selling RXBar, is still lacking among many fund managers.
“We’d been having meetings with various PE firms, and found them incredibly patronizing from the get go — they implied there was no way I could’ve been the CEO for the next phase of my business before understanding my skill set,” said Rahal, “Now we have the opportunities to work directly with amazing companies and founders, and it’s up for us to prove we can achieve what we say we can.”