Italian food brand Brami raised $33 million in Series B funding led by VMG Partners, enabling the company’s further expansion into the US.
Brami’s protein-packed pastas are already available at more than 4,000 US locations, including Walmart/Sam’s Club, Target, Whole Foods, Safeway/Albertsons and Costco.
Growth equity firm VMG Partners joins Brami’s existing investors La Molisana, Pentland Ventures, Letter Hipeau and Gather Ventures, the Italian food brand said Tuesday.
“Our goal is for Americans to reconsider their relationship with Italian cuisine, starting with pasta. Italians eat significantly more pasta than Americans, and yet consistently rank among the healthiest populations in the world,” said Brami CEO and founder Aaron Gatti.
Rapid expansion
The investment will expand Brami’s US footprint, fueling supply chain development, according to a spokesperson.
Repeat customers are driving US sales, the company said, noting that velocity reached 58% year over year, outpacing distribution growth by 30 percentage points.
“Our ability to deliver such an uncompromisingly authentic and elevated healthy pasta, at a value that everyone can enjoy daily, would not have been possible without the incredible partnership and support of the Ferro family and their company La Molisana,” Gatti said.
High-protein pasta
Brami, which was founded in 2016, prides itself on using two “old-world” ingredients in its pastas: Durum wheat semolina and lupini bean flour.
The two ingredients are nutrient-dense staples of the Mediterranean diet and deliver higher protein and fiber without compromising taste and texture, the company said.
Brami brand pasta delivers 70% more protein, 25% fewer net carbs and triple the fiber found in traditional pasta, according to the company.
“Lupini flour is the ideal ingredient to combine with traditional pasta flour because it’s easy to digest and has a natural umami flavor that enhances the pasta experience,” the company said.
Gatti said Brami’s focus is on “uncomplicating people’s relationship with food” and “redefining the US market with a healthy pasta that doesn’t compromise on authentic quality, taste and texture.”
Venture capital buy-in
High standards for ingredients and artisan manufacturing that are helping Brami to redefine the category attracted VMG Partners to the investment, according to general partner Wayne Wu.
“The team at Brami is doing it the right way; they’re meticulously focused on ingredients, process and quality,” Wu said. “That is hard to do as you grow. Much of what our funding supports will be ensuring those practices are maintained and invested in as the business scales.”
