Soup maker Tio Gazpacho has completed a $1.25m Series A funding round from investors led by 301 Inc, which is a General Mills’ venture capital arm.
The Series A round also included investments from other private investors in CircleUp's marketplace, and those from Growth Fund, which is an investment fund managed by CircleUp.
301 Inc vice president and general manager John Haugen said: "Tio Gazpacho offers a new soup experience with its refreshing and vibrant high quality ingredients served in a drinkable and portable bottle.
"We strongly believe in brands eager to make a difference in the marketplace and are thrilled to work with Tio Gazpacho to maximize its success within the food industry."
Tio Gazpacho founder and CEO Austin Allan said: "We're looking forward to the insights and experience that General Mills can offer to our brand and we believe our mission and their expertise will ultimately lead to unprecedented success for the Tio brand. Our partnership with 301 INC now opens the door for a larger audience to access our wholesome, organic, plant-based soups.
"We've reinvented soup for a modern, on-the-go consumer. And so I changed my tone a little bit in my fundraise and started talking about us as this cutting-edge soup brand that leverages technology in a way that's never been done before and is also a soup-beverage hybrid.
"I started using a little different terminology, and I also developed this new concept of launching a smaller size, less expensive version. Still the Tio name, but under a different line. When I started talking about that, people really started listening."
CircleUp co-founder and CEO Ryan Caldbeck said: "Tio Gazpacho's current growth, strong brand and cause-driven company mission exemplifies the kind of business we see achieving great success and driving strong investor returns.
"We use a tremendous amount of data to evaluate emerging consumer brands to make decisions about which companies enter our investment marketplace and it is a great achievement for Tio Gazpacho to have passed through our data-driven model."
Tio Gazpacho makes recipes using organic ingredients to create its signature chilled soups which are available in three flavours - Gazpacho Clásico (vine-ripened tomato, green pepper, and cucumber), Gazpacho Verde (kale, spinach, avocado, and mint) and Gazpacho de Sol (yellow tomato, yellow pepper, and carrot).
The company remodels the original gazpacho soup, blended with fresh, nutritious ingredients, drawing influences from Greece, Italy and Africa, and finally perfected in Spain, in three organic variations.
