Client tastes are ever altering, however one factor’s for positive: Individuals are searching for more healthy meals choices, together with their favourite consolation meals.
Ramen is commonly a pantry staple, recognized jokingly for being the meals of selection for school college students and younger entrepreneurs, however the market potential is big: The market worth of the world prompt noodle sector in 2020 was practically $46 billion and is projected to be about $66 billion by the top of 2027.
That’s the place immi is available in. Two years in the past, we profiled the corporate when it secured $3.8 million in seed funding. Kevin Lee and Kevin Chanthasiriphan began the corporate to carve out a distinct segment on this massive market and introduce a plant-based model of prompt ramen that additionally has decrease carbohydrates and elevated protein.
“We’ve nonetheless been heads down, actually targeted on the ramen house,” Lee mentioned in an interview. “Now we have seen some new people coming into the ramen house, however there nonetheless aren’t any rivals in that low-carb, high-protein, plant-based worth prop space. We proceed to take care of that lead and have an evergreen alternative to sort out, particularly in retail.”
On-line demand of immi’s merchandise hasn’t slowed down both, which is partly why Lee and Chanthasiriphan are keen to start the following part of their enterprise.
Immi co-founders Kevin Lee and Kevin Chanthasiriphan Picture Credit: Immi
At present, immi nonetheless has its three preliminary plant-based flavors of Spicy “Beef,” Tom Yum “Shrimp” and Black Garlic “Hen.” Nonetheless, a brand new spherical of $10 million in Collection A funding places the corporate on a path of unveiling 9 further flavors, rounding out its government staff and increasing its attain into nationwide retailers.
Contact Capital led the lately closed spherical and was joined by a bevy of movie star buyers, together with Naomi Osaka, Usher, Apolo Ohno, David Grutman, Kygo’s Palm Tree Crew and Gryffin. Immi has now raised about $15 million in whole funding, with Lee disclosing the valuation elevated “by an excellent quantity” over the seed spherical.
Different buyers collaborating within the Collection A embody Siddhi Capital, Gold Home Ventures, Anti VC, Harizury, Lab Capital Advisors, CAA’s Co-Head of Basketball, Lynja, Lauren Kleinman (Dreamday, The High quality Edit), Theresa Kang (Blue Marble Photos), and the CEOs or co-founders of Fly By Jing, Bokksu, Boba Guys, LMNT, OWYN, Hero Cosmetics, Provide, Rumble Boxing, Worlds, Venice Music, Adgile Media Group and Hyphen Capital.
Immi grew over six occasions 12 months over 12 months in income and bought out seven occasions since 2021, and in 2022, the corporate launched in retailers, together with Entire Meals, Wegmans and The Contemporary Market. Extra areas are on faucet to open this 12 months, the founders mentioned.
In 2021, the corporate had a personal tasting neighborhood of about 4,000 individuals and that quantity has grown to six,000. Along with style, the neighborhood offers the founders direct suggestions on which retailers they want to see immi launch in subsequent. Lee mentioned this was worthwhile data that always helps the corporate higher market itself to retailers by having the ability to show the dimensions of a future buyer base.
Following that speedy development, the corporate started to get some inbound investor consideration, from each current and new buyers, within the third quarter of 2022, Lee mentioned.
“We needed to lift this $10 million as a result of there was simply a lot alternative on the horizon with constructing out our staff, bettering the product after which launching in additional retail, particularly after seeing a few of the early Entire Meals knowledge,” Lee added. “We had wonderful velocity proper out the gate due to our direct-to-consumer viewers, and the demand in retail of individuals coming throughout our vivid yellow packaging.”
As talked about, a few of the new capital can be invested in product improvement analysis. Although Chanthasiriphan didn’t give a touch on what any of the 9 new flavors could be — immi makes a speciality of much less generally out there flavors — he did say that it is going to be a mixture of everlasting, limited-time and co-branded partnership flavors with influencers, celebrities and film studios.
On high of which are one other 12 flavors that the corporate is simply now “batting round” in efforts to see which of them immi ought to prioritize. Additionally it is exploring different merchandise outdoors of ramen.
“There are a variety of distinctive partnership alternatives to launch these,” Chanthasiriphan mentioned in an interview. “We even have noodle enhancements coming down the pipeline associated to texture, cook dinner occasions for the noodles and codecs, like cups.”
