As AI startups continue to dominate venture capital dollars, retail brands are left to vie for the rest of the capital.According to Carta data, 2025 was a rough year for consumer startups. Combined, consumer startups raised about $800 million in the first quarter of last year, the lowest since 2019. The report also showed the median seed round raised by consumer startups in that period dropped to about $700,000, the lowest in six years.
While the jury’s still out on how VC funding will shake out this year, it’s clear that large rounds are becoming increasingly rare among brands trying to grow in retail.
But some are proving to be the exception to the rule. In recent weeks, pasta brand Brami and snack brand Mosh both announced double-digit venture rounds to help them scale further.
Elly Truesdell, a partner at New Fare Partners, said the food and beverage companies that are able to raise money right now tend to have a very specific value proposition. That could mean being part of a better-for-you trend or being a high-velocity brand that’s growing at an exponential rate in retail.
Truesdell suspects that the large rounds going to the select few brands point to a concentrated effort among investors to bet on specific long-term trends.
