37 Exploding Food and Beverage Companies & Startups (2024)

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They might not grab headlines like SaaS startups, consumer tech companies, or e-commerce juggernauts.

But food and beverage startups are every bit as creative and exciting.

By leveraging technology, these startups have created new markets in everything from gourmet delicacies to time-saving food delivery services.

Discover some of the hottest startups in the food and beverage space below.

1. Liquid Death

5-year search growth: 1,011%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2017

Location: Los Angeles, California

Funding: $267.6M (Series Unknown)

What they do: Liquid Death takes a unique approach to marketing its canned water by targeting the younger demographic with edgy, bold branding that stands out from traditional water brands. This tallboy canned water brand helps customers “murder their thirst.” The company also will launch new flavored sparkling waters and iced teas.

2. Meati

5-year search growth: 280%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2016

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Funding: $374.5M (Series C)

What they do: Developing high-protein, sustainable, and environmentally friendly meat alternatives, Meati is pushing the boundaries in the plant-based meat industry. All Meati products are whole-food protein meals made completely from mushroom root.

3. NotCo

5-year search growth: 327%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2015

Location: Santiago, Chile

Funding: $433M (Series D)

What they do: NotCo uses the Giuseppe artificial intelligence program to create plant-based food products. NotMilk, NotChicken, and NotBeef taste and feel like animal-derived counterparts but all ingredients are 100% plant-based. Giuseppe has quickly taken Notco from start-up to unicorn status.

4. Tru Fru

5-year search growth: 99x+

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2017

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Funding: Undisclosed

What they do: Tru Fru is a chocolate-covered fruit snack brand that offers frozen (Hyper-Chilled) and shelf-stable (Hyper-Dried) options. The fast-growing snack brand increased sales by 104% in 2023 to over $84 million in revenue. 

5. Ryze Superfoods

5-year search growth: 5,700%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2019

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Funding: $2.2M (Seed Round)

What they do: Ryze Superfoods is an all-natural mushroom coffee brand. Their coffee is made with six medicinal mushrooms, including cordyceps, lion's mane, reishi, shiitake, turkey tail, and king trumpet. In 2024, Ryze Superfoods has more than 30,000 customers purchasing coffee and matcha subscriptions. 

6. WildWay

5-year search growth: -3%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2014

Location: San Antonio, Texas

Funding: Undisclosed (Debt Financing)

What they do: Wildway takes pride in their all-natural, good-for-you range of snacks. They’ve kept their product line lean so far, focusing on Keto Hot Cereal, Snack Mixes, and Grain-Free Granola as their signature products.

Wildway’s been featured in major publications like Women’s Health and Paleo Magazine.

7. Everyday Dose

5-year search growth: 1,329%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2021

Location: Miami, Florida

Funding: Undisclosed

What they do: Everyday Dose is a coffee substitute startup that uses functional mushroom blends, collagen protein, and nootropics like L-theanine and Huperzia Serrata. Unlike a traditional cup of coffee, the brand uses much less caffeine (45mg per serving) so it can be used on its own or added to a regular coffee. The company sells both mushroom coffee and mushroom matcha blends. 

8. Brewbird

5-year search growth: 48%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2012

Location: San Mateo, California

Funding: Undisclosed (Series A)

What they do: Brewbird is aiming to build a technology platform that “scales the specialty coffee experience”, providing a marketplace for entrepreneurial roasters to sell their coffee through Brewbird.

Brewbird’s signature product is a single-serve coffee brewer that uses whole bean pods. Through Brewbird’s marketplace, the independent coffee roaster will be able to sell their prized product in a single-serve format. Single-serve coffee is an enormous market. As of 2019, 42% of Americans own a single-serve coffee machine.

9. Rheal

5-year search growth: 975%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2017

Location: Newcastle, United Kingdom

Funding: $1.3M (Equity Crowdfunding)

What they do: Rheal is a food startup that offers plant-based, ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to customers' doors. Their meals are made with sustainably-sourced ingredients and are free from dairy, gluten, and refined sugar. They aim to provide healthy and convenient options for those with busy lifestyles who want to prioritize their health and the environment.

10. Hapi Drinks

5-year search growth: 13%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2011

Location: Austin, Texas

Funding: $2.4M (Series Unknown)

What they do: Hapi Drinks is targeting one of America’s greatest health dangers: childhood obesity. The CDC estimates the prevalence of obesity in children is around 19.7%. Hapi Drinks noticed the problem and their solution is a line of sugar-free drinks with flavors comparable to a Capri Sun or Sunny Delight.

Instead of simply making the drinks sugar-free and leaving it there, Hapi also loads their drinks with Vitamin C (around 90% daily value) and uses only all-natural ingredients.

11. Rule Breaker

5-year search growth: 45%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2015

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Funding: $114K (Equity Crowdfunding)

What they do: Rule Breaker is a twist on the classic cookie and brownie. Instead of dairy-packed, gluten-rich sweet treats, Rule Breaker has rolled out a line of vegan treats that are also gluten-free. For every bag of Rule Breaker Bites purchased, one is donated to a food bank to help with food insecurity.

Rule Breaker was also featured on Shark Tank, the Today Show, and numerous mainstream publications.

12. OLIPOP

5-year search growth: 4,850%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2017

Location: Oakland, California

Funding: $43.5M (Series B)

What they do: To combat the unhealthy ingredients in traditional soda, OLIPOP created a brand of prebiotic sodas that contain low sugar, plant-based ingredients, fiber, and prebiotics. It's available in many popular soda pop flavors, such as root beer, cola, and orange cream. The startup is on pace to reach $500 million in sales in 2024. 

13. Flaviar

5-year search growth: -60%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2012

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $13.9M (Series Unknown)

What they do: Not surprisingly, alcohol sales skyrocketed over the pandemic. Flaviar emerged as a spirits club allowing members to try a range of different liquors. Through their subscription service, members are able to try expensive liquors that might normally be too pricey to buy without tasting first.

14. HydroMATE

5-year search growth: 3,700%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2019

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Funding: Undisclosed

What they do: HydroMATE is a water bottle manufacturer that produces smart water bottles designed to help people stay hydrated throughout the day. The bottles are equipped with sensors that track the amount of water consumed and provide reminders to drink more water, helping to promote healthy habits and prevent dehydration.

15. Bevi

5-year search growth: 13%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2013

Location: Boston, Massachusetts

Funding: $130.3M (Series D)

What they do: Bevi is a beverage startup. They’ve created the Bevi Bottleless Water Dispensers, which are essentially commercial grade office ready smart dispensers for sparkling (or plain) water in the office.

Dispensing is done entirely through a smartphone app with no touching of dirty screens required. Bevi has smart internet monitoring to make sure flavor supplies remain stocked and alert the office manager when anything is wrong with it.

A large Series D round means that Bevi can get a headstart on modernizing the outdated office vending machine and water fountains, and make them relics of the past.

16. Remedy Organics

5-year search growth: 9,100%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2014

Location: Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

Funding: Undisclosed (Non-Equity Assistance)

What they do: One of ten companies that PepsiCo sees as the future of food and beverage, NJ-based Remedy makes plant based juices and smoothies that are packed with popular ingredients like cocoa, MCT oil, dates and more. Sleek packaging and thoughtful, focused product lines also helps drive Remedy’s growing market share.

17. Thistle

5-year search growth: 2%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2013

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $17M (Series B)

What they do: Thistle is a DTC subscription offering healthy salads and vegan or vegetarian options. With a similar business model to Freshly and other meal delivery providers, Thistle has taken the angle of being the healthy go-to choice in the marketplace.

In addition to their healthy meal offerings, Thistle also makes their own cold-pressed juices that can be added to a meal plan or delivered individually.

18. Dash Water

5-year search growth: 383%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2017

Location: London, England

Funding: $13.1M (Series A)

What they do: Dash Water is a sustainable beverage startup that produces sparkling water infused with an assortment of fruit and vegetable flavors. The company aims to reduce food waste by utilizing imperfect produce that would otherwise go to waste, and their packaging is 100% recyclable.

19. LMNT

5-year search growth: 3,133%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2019

Location: Naples, Florida

Funding: $3.3M (Series A)

What they do: LMNT is a brand of zero-sugar electrolyte drink mixes that support hydration and electrolyte balance in the body. Each LMNT pack is mixed with water and contains 1000 mg of sodium, 200 mg of potassium, and 60 mg of magnesium. The brand also offers canned electrolyte sparkling water. 

20. Cozymeal

5-year search growth: 11%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2014

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: Undisclosed (Series A)

What they do: Cozymeal has dug out a niche in the food and beverage space by providing a marketplace that matches local chefs with teams or individuals who are looking for memorable cooking classes. Users can choose which city they want to take a class in, what kind of dish (risotto or Spanish tapas or sushi) they want to learn how to cook, and then book.

During the pandemic, Cozymeal pivoted to offering select cooking classes online. Everything from mixology to whisky tasting is still on offer for company team-building activities or the individual connoisseur.

21. Snackpass

5-year search growth: 165%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2017

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $95.6M (Series B)

What they do: Snackpass brings quick-serve restaurants online. Customers can pre-order takeout at local restaurants with no markups or hidden fees. Menus also automatically update with new pricing and listings.

The social aspect of the app has caused its popularity to explode. Users earn points with each order for future discounts. They can also share and gift points to their friends on the platform, incentivizing users to track their friend’s activities and share rewards.

22. Hungryroot

5-year search growth: 200%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2015

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $75.4M (Series C)

What they do: Hungryroot is a meal planning and online grocery startup. Customers can access customizable meal plans, recipes, and grocery add-ons to automate their shopping.

Customers take a quick look when they sign up and get matched with a personalized plan based on family size, dietary restrictions, etc. Plans start at $65+ per delivery.

23. Tovala

5-year search growth: 540%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2015

Location: Chicago, Illinois

Funding: $68.6M (Series C)

What they do: Tovala is a food-tech startup that delivers fresh meals every week. The twist is these meals can be cooked in one minute using the Tovala Smart Oven.

The Smart Oven is programmed with cook settings for each meal type. Customers who sign up for meal delivery save $200 on the oven.

24. Misfits Market

5-year search growth: 79%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2018

Location: Pennsauken, New Jersey

Funding: $526.5M (Series C)

What they do: Misfits Market is a subscription box startup that cuts the grocery bill and only ships organic, locally sourced products. The online grocery store works directly with farmers to reduce food waste by bringing hard-to-find fruits and vegetables into customers' homes.

25. Eat Just

5-year search growth: -33%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2011

Location: San Francisco, California

Funding: $465M (Grant)

What they do: Eat Just is a food technology company developing alternative egg and cultivated meat products. The recipes are high in protein, 100% plant-based, non-GMO, and cholesterol-free. Eat Just’s goal is to reduce waste by using ingredients that use less water, less land, and emit less CO2 than traditional animal products.

26. Vinovest

5-year search growth: 2,841%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2019

Location: Culver City, California

Funding: Undisclosed (Series A)

What they do: Vinovest is a startup that allows investors to purchase and trade shares of fine wine as an alternative investment. With Vinovest, users can build a portfolio of diverse wine investments, and the company handles all aspects of buying, storing, insuring, and selling the wine on their behalf.

27. Licious

5-year search growth: 19%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2015

Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Funding: $489.9M (Series F)

What they do: Licious is an India-based seafood and meat delivery startup offering pre-packed items to customers’ doors in 90-120 minutes. Every product is handpicked and the Licious motto is they only sell meat they would eat themselves. The company aims to make meat purchasing in India easier, safer, and more hygienic.

28. Banza

5-year search growth: 178%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2014

Location: Detroit, Michigan

Funding: $28.8M (Series B)

What they do: Banza is a chickpea-based pasta startup. Their pasta is higher in protein and fiber and lower in net carbs than traditional pasta. Banza’s goal is to encourage people to eat plant-based diets to improve health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

29. Kitopi

5-year search growth: 17%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2018

Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Funding: $804M (Series C)

What they do: Kitopi is a Kitchen as a Service (KaaS) platform that allows restaurants to get closer to customers. Kitopi is the Middle East’s biggest cloud kitchen company, preparing home-delivery foods for 100+ different eateries. Restaurants can scale their operations using Kitopi in new cities for a fraction of the price.

30. Factor 75

5-year search growth: 112%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2013

Location: Batavia, Illinois

Funding: $2.9M (Series B)

What they do: Factor Meals is a weekly meal delivery company that healthy, microwave-ready meals. They offer various dietary options, including keto, vegan, high-protein, low-carb, and more. There are over 35 dietitian-designed meal choices every week.

31. WeCook

5-year search growth: 93%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2013

Location: Dorval, Quebec, Canada

Funding: $44.2M (Series C)

What they do: The busy professional who likes to eat healthily has found the perfect match with WeCook. The nutritious meal delivery company brings healthy prepared and ready-to-eat meals directly to customers' doorsteps. The company focuses on using locally sourced, all-natural ingredients.

32. Snackmagic

5-year search growth: 700%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2020

Location: Long Island City, New York

Funding: $15M (Series A)

What they do: With their personalized snacking experience, Snackmagic allows users to customize a snack box filled with their favorite treats, from healthy to indulgent. Snackmagic snacks are specially sourced from around the world and won’t be found in a traditional grocery store.

33. Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn

5-year search growth: 53%

Search growth status: Regular

Year founded: 2014

Location: Asheville, North Carolina

Funding: $3M (Series A)

What they do: Handmade and crafted with love, Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn offers a range of unique, gourmet flavors that elevate traditional popcorn snacking. All products are all-natural, non-GMO, with no artificial ingredients. Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn prides itself on sourcing local ingredients and making and making their popcorn with love in small batches.

34. Goldbelly

5-year search growth: 283%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2012

Location: New York, New York

Funding: $133.1M (Series C)

What they do: As a heavy display marketer and retargeting advertiser, users might be familiar with Goldbelly from popular social platforms. Goldbelly’s business model is simple: ship iconic dishes from famous restaurants around the U.S. directly to your doorstep.

Lobster Rolls from Maine’s finest, Philly Cheesesteaks from Philadelphia, bagels from Brooklyn. Goldbelly scouts for the most popular joints and then offer up their most popular menu item to hungry consumers.

With over $100M in funding, investors seem to love their careful curation and food offerings.

35. Once Upon a Farm

5-year search growth: 336%

Search growth status: Exploding

Year founded: 2017

Location: Berkeley, California

Funding: $116.8M (Series D)

What they do: Once Upon a Farm is an infants and children farm-to-fridge food startup. They sell portable cold-pressed baby food pouches made with organic fruits, vegetables, and superfoods. The idea is to give babies more nutritious foods while making the feeding process easier.

36. Remilk

5-year search growth: 500%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2019

Location: Tel Aviv, Israel

Funding: $131.3M (Series B)

What they do: Remilk is a milk protein startup that uses a fermentation process to produce dairy-free milk proteins, offering a more sustainable milk alternative without compromising on taste or texture. The microbial fermentation crafts an identical dairy product without harming cows or using lactose, hormones, and antibiotics.

37. Copper Cow Coffee

5-year search growth: 8%

Search growth status: Peaked

Year founded: 2017

Location: Los Angeles, California

Funding: $11.5M (Series A)

What they do: Copper Cow Coffee is reintroducing the way we think about Vietnamese-style pour-over coffee. Every coffee or latte is made with 100% natural ingredients and delivers a smooth and rich taste.

Copper Cow was famously spotted on Shark Tank. They developed single-serve filters that sit inside the coffee mug to create a unique coffee-pouring experience from anywhere.

Conclusion

The future looks bright in the food and beverage space, with these startups going a long way to proving how tech can be combined with traditional space to create spectacular results.

Food delivery, sourcing world-class dishes and shipping everything direct to doorsteps are just a few examples of what is sure to be a booming sector moving forward.