LAS VEGAS — Doughp, a cookie dough brand, has opened an equity crowdfunding round with a goal of raising $618,000 to support research and development, marketing and retail growth. Anyone may invest as little as $100 at wefunder.com/doughp.
Founded in 2017, Doughp markets and distributes an assortment of cookie dough that may be baked or eaten raw. The company donates a portion of sales to mental health and addiction recovery non-profit organizations.
Following struggles with alcoholism, Kelsey Moriera, founder and chief executive officer, rediscovered baking as a joyful activity in the early days of her sobriety. She left her corporate career and initially launched the business as a food cart in San Francisco, then opened a scoop shop there with plans to expand to Las Vegas. During the pandemic, Ms. Moriera and her husband, Israel, who by then had joined as co-CEO, decided to shutter the physical storefronts and double down on direct-to-consumer operations. Last year, Doughp landed in hundreds of grocery stores nationwide, including Walmart, Kroger, Target and Costco. Two appearances on “Shark Tank” provided additional exposure.
“By the end of that year, we had to stop seeking new business and focus on the rollout of existing accounts and finding funding to support the marketing demands of this channel, too,” Ms. Moriera said. “One of our big retailers is interested in taking us national this year saying they want to ‘move fast’ after seeing us hitting benchmarks out of the gate and outpacing the category in a number of areas. This expansion will increase our door count to more than 4,000 in total.”
The company generated $3.9 million in revenue last year and a total of $13 million in lifetime revenue. Ms. Moriera said the company is on track to reach profitability by the end of the year.
“There are new opportunities arising for us in the foodservice space that will really move the needle on revenue, as well,” Ms. Moriera said.
Doughp previously raised capital through Wefunder and in 2018 became the first company on the platform to successfully repay its investors, Ms. Moriera said. A number of backers related to the brand’s mission and have shared personal stories of recovery, she said.Enjoying this content? Learn about more disruptive startups on the Food Entrepreneur page.
