HumanCo

HumanCo is a mission-driven holding company that acquires, incubates and builds consumer brands focused on healthier living and sustainability. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, it was co-founded in 2019 by Jason H. Karp and Ross Berman, with Moshe Shalchon joining Karp and Berman in 2018 to form the business and later serving as President of HumanCo Brands. The company positions itself around cleaner consumer products, applying standards such as organic where relevant, non-GMO, gluten-free, no seed oils and no synthetic or engineered "techno" foods.

The portfolio spans brands HumanCo founded itself and brands it acquired. Snow Days, a frozen grain-free pizza bite line, was created within HumanCo and launched in 2021 with actress Scarlett Johansson as creative director. Acquired or majority-owned brands include Monty's (plant-based cream cheese and vegan butter), Coconut Bliss (later Cosmic Bliss, coconut-milk based frozen desserts) and Against the Grain, the Vermont family-owned grain-free and gluten-free baker in which HumanCo took a majority stake in 2021. HumanCo also formed a health-focused SPAC, HumanCo Acquisition Corp., holds an investment in restaurant brand True Food Kitchen, and has a strategic partnership with sustainable consumer products company Grove Collaborative. HumanCo Investments, led by Ross Berman, sources and invests in mission-aligned better-for-you brands.

The company supports portfolio brands with sales, marketing, operational and innovation resources, and works alongside founders who remain with acquired businesses, as with Against the Grain's Nancy and Tom Cain.

Founding story

Jason H. Karp's focus on health began in his early twenties, when he was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases and a degenerative eye disease that doctors said would leave him blind by age 30. After changing his nutrition and lifestyle toward whole, unprocessed foods and eliminating chemical additives, his conditions reversed. That experience led him to co-found Hu Kitchen and Hu Products with his wife Jessica and brother-in-law in 2011. At the end of 2018 he retired from the hedge fund industry, where he had founded and run Tourbillon Capital Partners, an investment fund that managed over $4 billion, and started HumanCo in 2019 with Ross Berman to build a broader platform of trustworthy health and wellness brands.

Business model

HumanCo operates as a holding company and brand platform: it acquires majority stakes in established better-for-you consumer brands, incubates and launches its own brands, and makes minority investments through HumanCo Investments. Value is created by scaling portfolio companies with in-house sales, marketing, operational and financial capabilities, and it has also used a special purpose acquisition company, HumanCo Acquisition Corp., as a vehicle in the health sector.

Revenue derives from the sale of consumer products by its owned and majority-owned brands across categories including frozen foods, baked goods, plant-based dairy alternatives and frozen desserts, together with returns on minority investments made through HumanCo Investments.

Traction

As of September 2021 HumanCo's portfolio included Snow Days, Monty's, Coconut Bliss, HumanCo Acquisition Corp. and a newly acquired majority stake in Against the Grain, and total funding of $50 million. The company's brand pages also list True Food Kitchen and a strategic partnership with Grove Collaborative, and portfolio references include Cosmic Bliss.

Latest developments

The company's press page carries items dated into October 2024 covering podcast and media appearances by founder Jason H. Karp and highlighting portfolio company Against the Grain. Leadership includes Moshe Shalchon as President of HumanCo Brands, previously CFO and COO of HumanCo Brands and CEO of portfolio company Cosmic Bliss.