Boston-based canned chocolate milk brand Slate announced this week that it has raised $3.3 million, adding to a previously announced seed round that now closes at $5 million.
Founded in 2018 by Manny Lubin and Josh Belinsky, Slate produces a line of protein rich chocolate milks marketed towards adult consumers. Available in Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and caffeinated Espresso Chocolate varieties, the company recently reformulated its entire line to increase the protein content from 17 to 20 grams per 11 oz. can, and also removed all added sugars (down from nine grams).
“We ended up growing a bit faster than anticipated,” Lubin told BevNET today. “Right as [the previously announced funding] was closing we actually landed a few more large retailers … our ecommerce numbers started to climb, the number of doors started to climb, so we just needed some additional capital to allow us to properly support our growth.”
The new financing adds to the $1.7 million Slate raised in February and brings the brand’s total financing to over $6 million. The round includes financing from firms Skyview Capital and Riverpark Ventures, entertainment company JDS Sports, and individuals including RXBar founder Peter Rahal and Yasso Frozen Greek Yogurt co-founders Drew Harrington and Amanda Klane.
Previously announced angel investors from the winter raise include Halo Top co-founders Doug Bouton and Justin Hall, MVMT Watches co-founder Jake Kassan, Drizly co-founder Nick Rellas, former Drizly executive Taylor Burton, and OneRepublic lead singer Ryan Tedder.
Many of the investors have critical CPG experience that Slate will tap, Lubin said. He noted that like Slate, brands like Halo Top, RXBar and Yasso have grown by making healthier versions of popular products and using simple messaging to bring in consumers.
“We want to be a case study on the simplest brand ever,” Lubin said. “We’ve had three SKUs for more than two years, we market it on social media and we have people in the stores that are building a brand. Whenever we have to make a decision, sometimes we will out loud say ‘K.I.S.S.’ — Keep It Stupidly Simple.”
Slate is now in over 4,000 retail doors, up from about 3,000 in February, and has expanded its team from three full time employees last year to 30 people, Lubin said. The brand’s footprint is primarily along the East Coast, but has also begun expanding on the West Coast and in Texas with retailers including Bristol Farms, Erewhon, Market of Choice, United Supermarkets, Central Market and Harmons Grocery. As well, Slate is in Publix, Whole Foods, Wegmans and Market Basket.
Among the new hires are director of operations Justin Goodwin, who comes to the brand from Keto and Co.; director of retail sales Mike Arnold, previously VP of sales for Popcornopolis; and director of finance Todd Morse, former accounting manager at Yasso. However, most of the new hires, Lubin said, have been on Slate’s field sales and marketing teams.
Looking ahead, Lubin said Slate is looking to continue growing its retail footprint and is developing new innovations set to launch next year. However, invoking the K.I.S.S. philosophy, Lubin said the company is not trying to get ahead of itself and is still focused on “perfecting” its core products which will continue to lead growth for the foreseeable future.
“One of the toughest things we have to do as a young startup is to have ideas that are blasting out of our ears and know that we have to be patient and not launch them right away,” he said. “Every minute our team puts towards new products, even when they’re in the market, that’s a minute we could be putting towards our existing products.”