MOSH, a brain health brand started by Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger, took in its first institutional capital of $3 million in Series A financing to accelerate its retail distribution strategy.

The round was led by clients of MSA Advisors, LLC (Main Street Advisors) and a group of investors, including Joyance Ventures, The Lab Capital Advisors, Verso Capital and Entrepreneur Ventures.

Shriver and Schwarzenegger, her son, started the nutrition company MOSH in 2021 to produce protein bars crafted in partnership with brain health doctors. They are leveraging a global brain health supplements market that is expected to be around $16 billion by 2030.

In fact, the company came about from the pair sharing a house together during the global pandemic, Schwarzenegger told TechCrunch.

“We launched this almost two years ago, self-financed the company and we really didn’t know what would come of it,” he said. “Brain and body health are something my mom has been speaking about for so long, however, we really didn’t know if customers would be interested in it.”

Well, they were: In two years the company has amassed more than 100,000 customers and sold approximately $10 million worth of protein bars.

MOSH co-founders Maria Shriver and Patrick Schwarzenegger. Image Credits: MOSH

The bars are currently $35 for a pack of 12, according to the website, and come in flavors like Cookie Dough Crunch, Blueberry Almond Crunch and Peanut Butter Crunch. Brain-healthy ingredients include Lion’s Mane (a mushroom known to stimulate brain cell growth), Ashwagandha (commonly used for stress), collagen and Vitamins B12 and D3.

“It’s been really fascinating to watch MOSH grow,” Schwarzenegger added. “When we launched it, there was just so much demand. We continued to grow, bringing in some friends and family, hiring our first employee and then grew to two and three employees — it’s really just been wildly successful. We sold out twice which was both a blessing and a curse.”

Currently, MOSH sells direct-to-consumer, however, with this infusion of capital, the company intends to invest in retail with plans to go into more than 1,800 stores by next year, he said.

In addition, the company will launch some different product lines. Schwarzenegger declined to go into specifics; however, he did tease that a new product is launching at the end of September.

Meanwhile, the company wasn’t necessarily seeking out capital when it took the Series A, said Schwarzenegger, who himself has invested in consumer packaged goods companies, including Liquid I.V., Poppi and Super Coffee.

MOSH was well capitalized and “doing extremely well,” and getting some inbound interest from investors, even offering larger check sizes. That’s when he and Shriver agreed to take some funding.

“We just weren’t ready to grow that rapidly [as investors wanted],” Schwarzenegger said. “We want to get a foothold in retail and build out the team we need to go to retail next year. This will accelerate those learnings and help us continue to grow.”

https://techcrunch.com/2023/08/23/maria-shriver-patrick-schwarzenegger-mosh-3m-food/