Launch Date: October 2022
Geography: Brooklyn, NY, US
Founders:
Advisor: Dr. Jennifer Ashton
Board Members:
Notable Investors:
2026 Full Year Projected Revenue: $20M - $30M, according to industry estimates
Primary Category: Wellness
Other Category: Personal Care
Funding: Venture Capital
In September 2025, Alice Mushrooms raised an oversubscribed $8 million in Series A funding led by NewBound Venture Capital with participation from Unilever Ventures and DJ and record producer Tiësto.
In 2024, Alice Mushrooms landed investment from L Catterton, alongside celebrities Zac Efron, Kevin Hart, and Pedro Pascal.
Other investors include Jason Strauss, co-CEO of Tao Group, and Dr. Jennifer Ashton, former Chief Medical Correspondent for ABC News, who now serves as Alice’s Medical Advisor.
Primary Distribution Channel: DTC
Other Distribution Channels:
Key Retail Partners:
Key Markets: United States
2026 Projected Offline Distribution Points: 5,500
Alice is on a mission to spread the power of mushrooms in the most delightful way possible: chocolate. Founders Lindsay and Charlotte met in 2020 and bonded over their shared passion for food as medicine. Lindsay, a former pharmaceutical executive, and Charlotte, a media expert and food scholar, were tired of a supplement world dominated by pills, bitter tinctures, unnatural gummies, and clumpy powders. Everything felt unappetizing and unappealing to the modern consumer. So Lindsay began formulating a product that would not only work, but actually taste good, in her Venice Beach, CA, kitchen. The two then teamed up to create the perfect blend of medicinal and culinary delights in one daily, indulgent bite.
Insights: Charlotte Cruze, Co-Founder + COO
Why now and why you?
We just raised $8 million in Series A funding, led by NewBound Venture Capital with participation from Unilever Ventures, L Catterton, and DJ/producer Tiësto, to accelerate product development and expand our retail footprint. Following a first year of seven-figure revenue, we project 40% year-over-year growth in 2025, aiming for eight-figure top-line revenue, with wholesale distribution set to grow 250% through entry into 1,300 new stores before year end.
What fuels your competitive advantage?
In a world of supplements that taste bad and don't really work, alice stands out. Our dark chocolate daily bites are made with 72% organic dark chocolate and creamy cacao butter for an indulgent treat you will actually crave. And they work! Each bite is a blend of functional mushrooms, which improve long-term health, and nootropics and botanicals that work immediately—effectively catering to the modern consumers’ desire for instant gratification. The brand also has stand-out tactile packaging with all chocolates in a custom sliding tin that feels premium, is eye-catching, and is also eco-friendly.
We also have the backing of Dr. Jennifer Ashton who is a double board-certified OB-GYN, registered nutritionist, and former Chief Medical Correspondent for Good Morning America and ABC News. As our medical and nutritional advisor, she provides an invaluable clinical perspective and endorsement for our expertly formulated products.
What’s your proudest accomplishment to date?
We are most proud of the fact that we are leading the charge to make mushrooms mainstream. For so long, mushrooms have felt like a fringe or niche topic—something that only people who have a kombucha mother brewing in their basement might be interested in. Alice has flipped the script with our decadent chocolate form factor, modern, elevated branding, and emphasis on consumer education at scale. There's a reason we are one of the first nationwide mushroom brands at Target!
What is the one thing you wish someone had told you?
Trust your gut and build your brand for you—not for anyone else.
What would you tell your past self before starting this journey?
Buckle up! There will be high highs and low lows, but you will always, always figure it out.
What does success look like in the next 3-5 years?
Continued expansion into mass retail, increasing national awareness for functional mushrooms as a category, launching new SKUs, and continuing to improve and be an integral part of our customers' daily lives.
What's one industry trend that is overhyped, and what's being overlooked?
Gummies are incredibly overhyped. Most are filled with gums, emulsifiers, and high amounts of sugar. Gummies are also molecularly quite light, meaning that you can't pack a lot of ingredients in them. That's why most gummy brands require you to take 4-8 gummies as a single dose. It's also not a "food" that your body naturally recognizes, which negates the point of chewing a supplement in the first place. That is why we love chocolate; it is a true vehicle for food as medicine, is dense enough to pack a medicinal dose of supplements into one square, and it has a variety of health benefits in and of itself.
Intentionality and quality are starting to become overlooked. As we dive further into the age of AI, people and brands are forgetting that for a product to really connect, it needs to have a human touch. Customers are learning how to tell when something feels written by AI, like it doesn't have a soul, or is just trying to make a quick buck off of them. Brands who overlook this stand to lose a great deal.
How do you think the industry needs to evolve?
The mushroom industry needs to create a set of standards and testing for mushroom products. As a new category with little consumer education, there is a lot of room for bad players to enter the functional mushroom space and sell subpar (at best) products to unknowing consumers. We need a regulating body that can third-party validate the claims mushroom brands are making about their quality, their sourcing, and their potency.
If you could wave a magic wand, what one wish would you make for your business?
To be synonymous with the words "mushroom chocolate."
