Less than six months after raising $7M in a Series A round, PeaTos has announced that it has secured Post Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:POST) to lead its $12.5M Series B round. The funds will enable PeaTos to continue driving its mission to revolutionize America’s favorite chips by adding nutrient-dense peas to the traditional corn base and replacing the artificial colors and flavors with more natural ingredients. PeaTos has experienced explosive growth and received widespread acclaim due to its unique approach of creating a better form of “junk food”, one that has all the flavor and fun of traditional snacks like Cheetos® and Doritos®, but all the nutrient claims of better-for-you options.

“The days of trading flavor for nutrition are behind us,” says PeaTos Brand founder and CEO Nick Desai. “Today’s consumers will not accept a compromise and that is the holy grail of snacking PeaTos makes good on!”

PeaTos has used proprietary technology and state-of-the-art innovation to create an incredible product that has that rare “WOW” factor. PeaTos have 2X the protein and 3X the fiber of their famous counterparts and none of the artificial junk, and yet they taste better. As a very young brand, PeaTos has been wildly successful in both gaining distribution and brand awareness by being resourceful in navigating the consumer-packaged goods (CPG) category. PeaTos has gone head-on at the competition, which has monopolized the category for decades in a classic David v Goliath battle. The brand has succeeded by utilizing an over-the-top and amusing brand voice, leveraging unique partnerships, and strengthening relationships to a growing fan-base across the digital landscape. This next round of funding will enable the brand to further these efforts.

As consumers find themselves migrating into the online space with more frequency over the course of this pandemic, a brand’s relevancy depends on having a strong presence in both traditional retail and direct-to-consumer channels. PeaTos has developed a very strong and loyal online following and experienced massive growth in its direct-to-consumer business by adding new services such as subscriptions and a loyalty program to round out the new site launch.

“We are honored by this investment from Post and their confidence in the PeaTos brand,” said Nick Desai, founder and CEO of PeaTos. “Post has a long history of success in the CPG space and we are honored to have them as part of our mission! The proceeds of this funding round will give us the ability to further execute on our ambitious strategic plan.”

Howard Friedman, president and CEO of Post Consumer Brands, said, “We are very excited to begin our partnership with Nick and the Peatos brand. We believe it has a bright future and we can learn a lot from their entrepreneurial culture and gain an understanding of the fast growing snacking space.”

PeaTos Brand is available in over 4,700 retailers, including Kroger and its banner stores like King Soopers, Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Dillons, and Smith's. PeaTos are also available at Vons, Pavilions, Albertsons, Safeway, Sprouts, and Sam’s Club. The perfect go-to snack, PeaTos are seeing an uptick in the foodservice sector with increased popularity in the tech space as well as quick-service restaurants like Lee’s Sandwich and Fat Shack. PeaTos are also witnessing heroic growth in digital, with online purchases at PeaTos.com accelerating month over month.

Since securing partners like Heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou and Fortnite Gamer Bugha, the brand’s social following has tripled in size with continued growth and engagement. The “PeaTos vs Cheetos” marketing efforts have proven out in the social media space, especially with the millennial and Gen Z crowd. The brand has also planted stakes within many niche dieting communities and is partnering with fitness and lifestyle brands. PeaTos is making good on the promise to revolutionize snacking, and the brand is poised for explosive growth in 2021 and beyond.

Related: PeaTos brings better-for-you differentiation to classic snack formats