SEMCAP Food & Nutrition has made a $55 million investment in Good Culture, a better-for-you cultured dairy brand, in a deal the investor said reinforces its focus on backing category-defining food companies.
The investment builds on SEMCAP Food & Nutrition’s existing relationship with Good Culture, which began in 2021, and positions the firm to partner alongside majority investor L Catterton as Good Culture pursues continued growth.
The companies said the funding supports Good Culture’s next phase of expansion, with an emphasis on accelerating innovation and broadening distribution across North America. SEMCAP Food & Nutrition characterized the transaction as consistent with its strategy of investing in food brands tied to sustainable modern health and that have demonstrated proof of concept and scalability.
Good Culture, based in Austin, Texas, was founded in 2015 by Jesse Merrill and Anders Eisner. The company is best known for its effort to modernize cottage cheese through clean-label positioning, simple ingredients, and high-protein offerings. Its portfolio also includes sour cream and cream cheese, and the company said its products are made with milk from cows raised on family farms and without artificial ingredients, gums, stabilizers, or additives.
SEMCAP Food & Nutrition said it provides operating and investing support to help portfolio companies scale, including strategic partnering and growth initiatives. The firm described itself as one of three platforms within SEMCAP, alongside health and AI, and said it invests behind long-term trends it believes can deliver outsized impact.
KEY QUOTES
“We are incredibly grateful to the SEMCAP team for believing in Good Culture from the beginning. They saw our potential to reinvigorate a sleepy, overlooked category and delivered the operational expertise and partnership necessary to turn that potential into market leadership. We are excited about this next phase of growth together.”
Jesse Merrill, Co-Founder And CEO, Good Culture
“Since our first meeting with Jesse and his team, we’ve been energized by their ambition to reinvent a dormant category and conviction that cottage cheese could be reimagined for today’s consumer. This new investment demonstrates SEMCAP Food & Nutrition’s continued execution against our strategy of backing brands with real momentum and meaningful impact. We look forward to continuing this very successful partnership to build even more value at Good Culture.”
John Haugen, Managing Partner, SEMCAP Food & Nutrition
