Lotus Bakeries’ corporate venture fund has announced the closing of a minority investment in US-based bar company IQBAR.
IQBAR is based in Boston and is a better-for-you food business, first founded in 2017 by Will Nitze, whose inspiration for founding the brand came after working at a software startup, where he became interested in the relationship between nutrition, brain function and overall health.
Unable to find healthy, ready-to-eat options which would support him in the way he wanted, Will founded his own company, IQBAR.
The company’s primary product line is comprised of plant-based nutrition bars. Each bar contains six nutrients and 12g of plant protein, while also being keto, paleo-friendly, vegan, and gluten/dairy/soy/sugar/alcohol free. Currently, the bars are available in seven core flavours such as almond, wild blueberry and chocolate sea salt.
IQBAR gained traction through its own website sales and e-commerce platforms, the company says, and on top of its strong online presence, has expanded its offline footprint as it is now sold in approximately 8000 stores across the US including national chains.
“I’m elated to have FF2032 joining us as a partner. There are few companies that run so smoothly across many international markets while still embracing calculated bets on the future. It’s an honour to be one of those bets,” said Will Nitze, CEO and Founder of IQBAR. “We look forward to leveraging Lotus’ deep operational experience to accelerate IQBAR’s growth and deliver on our mission to empower everyday ‘doers’ via functional nutrition!”
“Will has created a bar brand that ticks all the boxes in a massive and growing category. So far, IQBAR has already shown good traction with consumers and we have strong believe the brand will continue to perform,” explained Jan Boone, CEO of Lotus Bakeries. “Furthermore we believe in the team and we especially admire Will’s hyper focus on business fundamentals, meticulous execution and solid capital efficiency.”
Last year, Lotus Bakeries announced plans to expand into Asia with the addition of its third Biscoff plant in light of awareness that the APAC region becomes increasingly more important to company sales, and acquired sourdough cracker company Peter’s Yard.
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