4th & Heart, the California-based artisanal food brand, widely known for their gourmet flavored line of products featuring grass-fed ghee, announced today the closing of a $7.6 million series C funding round led by Harbinger Ventures, a leading growth-equity investment firm focused on scaling early-stage, female-led companies. The latest funding will allow 4th & Heart to bolster its innovation and distribution channels, expanding the brand’s reach and furthering its status as a household name.
The investment round also includes funding from mission-aligned leading venture capitalists with expertise and in-depth knowledge of the food and beverage landscape, including Cambridge Companies SPG, Blueberry Ventures, Boulder Food Group, Monogram Capital Partners, Finn Capital Partners, and Everplus Capital.
“We are thrilled to have found such an influential group of partners that share our passion and align with the mission of 4th & Heart,” said Raquel Tavares, Founder and CEO of 4th & Heart. “Our work with Harbinger Ventures and our other investors will help to grow our brand and innovate new products for the growing audience of health-conscious consumers attracted to flavorful better-for-you alternative cooking essentials and snacks.”
Founded in 2015 with a mission to revolutionize the modern-day pantry, 4th & Heart has quickly established itself as the North American ghee category leader through the innovation and creation of easy-to-use gourmet products utilizing the ancient Ayurvedic staple, ghee, commonly known as clarified butter in the West. Furthering access to its range of necessities, 4th & Heart will expand new availability of its shelf-stable items, including clarified butter spreads, into Target – which will be their first expansion into mass retail. Target stores expansion will include their SuperTarget and PFresh stores nationwide this September.
Moreover, 4th & Heart continues to grow their presence on existing retailers’ shelves with Sprouts’ addition of flavored hybrid ghee pourable oils and sprays and Whole Foods adding pourable ghee oils, turmeric ghee and Chocti.
“4th & Heart is a trailblazer in the superfood category, and we couldn’t be more excited to be involved in the next phase of the brand’s growth,” said Megan Bent, Founder and Managing Partner of Harbinger Ventures. “Raquel and her team are driven not only by their strong vision for their own brand, but by their deep understanding of their target consumer, and we look forward to supporting their ongoing mission to deliver the best possible alternative options to that consumer, whether in the kitchen or on the go.”
“Ghee offers functionality to a traditional category staple with 4th & Heart as the clear winner on shelf. As the ghee market continues to expand, Raquel and her team are positioned to be the category leader in velocity, innovation and consumer engagement,” said Filipp Chebotarev, Chief Operating Officer and Partner at Cambridge Companies SPG.
The beloved Southern California-based brand currently carries 21 skus of ghee butter spreads, oils and chocolate spreads and is available in over 10,000 stores nationwide including Amazon, Whole Foods, Kroger, Sprouts, Gelson’s and more. Coming soon, 4th & Heart will be expanding its portfolio with the launch of WOKE, a new line of grass-fed collagen ghee protein and energy bars, providing further accessibility to healthy lifestyle snacking choices. For more information on 4th & Heart and to find it at store near you, please visit www.fourthandheart.com.
About 4th & Heart
Since its launch in 2015, the Venice, CA based food company 4th & Heart has been on a mission to revolutionize the modern-day pantry with an ancient Ayurvedic staple, ghee butter. As the country’s go-to high quality ghee purveyor with placement nationwide in over 10,000 stores, 4th & Heart continues to reinvent the ways consumers can incorporate grass-fed ghees into daily diets by providing a variety of kitchen essentials including delicious flavored spreads and oils. For more information about 4th & Heart, please visit www.fourthandheart.com or catch up with them on Instagram (@fourthandheart), Facebook or Twitter (@fourthandheart).
About Harbinger Ventures
Harbinger Ventures is a leading growth-equity investment firm focused on identifying and scaling high-growth companies in the consumer sector. Harbinger works exclusively with early-stage companies that are led by female or mixed-gender founder teams and incentivizes collaboration among its portfolio companies by giving each entrepreneur an equity stake in the portfolio. By investing solely in companies that address significant market gaps and are led by female or mixed-gender founder teams, Harbinger curates a cohesive portfolio of companies that are structured to yield consistent, risk-adjusted returns. For more information, visit http://harbingerventures.com.
