News

Sunrise Strategic Partners, an emerging brands accelerator that is backed by Trilantic North America, has invested in Los Angeles-based Coolhaus, an ice cream company. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Sunrise Strategic Partners (“Sunrise”), a Boulder, CO-based accelerator of emerging brands co-founded by Steve Hughes and Trilantic North America, today announced an investment in Coolhaus, a super-premium ice cream company based in Los Angeles, California. This is the tenth investment for Sunrise since it launched in 2016.

Coolhaus is a women-led, Los Angeles born and raised, super premium ice cream brand known for unique, sweet meets savory flavors and innovative novelties. The quality is of an undeniable standard in terms of sourcing, sustainability, and over-run (20% to make the densest, creamiest ice cream). Coolhaus launched with ice cream trucks and has since expanded to a formidable grocery business at 6,000+ stores ranging from specialty to conventional. Coolhaus is not just an ice cream, but an LA lifestyle brand that embraces its diverse uniqueness. Consumers identify with the brand and our loyal following will propel Coolhaus to be the household ice cream brand of the Millennial and Gen Z generations.

“Coolhaus has seen strong growth and impressive brand loyalty since launching in 2009. We’re a brand that stays true to who we are, creating high quality ice cream in inventive flavors that appeal to a younger generation,” said Natasha Case, CEO and Founder of Coolhaus. “With our continued innovation in super premium flavors, our new vegan line, and a brand new novelty concept, we have lots on the dashboard to propel our growth. I’m looking forward to leveraging the Sunrise team’s expertise as we continue to expand.”

“Natasha’s story of starting Coolhaus is one of the most creative entrepreneurial feats I have encountered in my career. Her passion has created a unique and impressive brand that brings innovative flavors and formats to the ice cream category and is celebrated by loyal consumers across the country,” said Steve Hughes, CEO and co-founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners. “Sunrise is proud to partner with a woman-led business, and we are excited to work with Natasha and her team to continue growing the Coolhaus business in the years ahead.”

The investment from Sunrise will allow Coolhaus to further expand grocery distribution, make additional marketing and sales investments, and launch new innovation. This marks the tenth investment for Sunrise, a brand accelerator that provides growth expertise and capital to early-stage health and wellness brands to support growth, add strategic value and share guidance on tactical priorities.

About Coolhaus
Coolhaus is a women-led, LA born and raised, super-premium, inventive ice cream company built on the idea of farchitecture (food + architecture), and known for creating unique, sweet-meets-savory flavors and novelties. Natasha Case and Freya Estreller founded Coolhaus in an old, beat up postal van they bought off Craigslist at the 2009 Coachella Valley Music Festival. During the Festival, Coolhaus went viral and acquired a small cult following, which Case and Estreller could not ignore.

Since launching, Coolhaus has since expanded to a formidable grocery business at 6,000+ stores ranging from specialty to conventional and has been dubbed the ‘Ice cream empire for the millennial market’ by Inc. Magazine. Coolhaus has drawn accolades from Forbes, USA Today, PEOPLE, and CNN Money, and from such celebrities as Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, Cindy Crawford, Mandy Moore, Jessica Alba, Gabrielle Union and Reese Witherspoon, to name a few. To learn more about Coolhaus, please visit https://cool.haus/ and find us on social @Coolhaus.

About Sunrise Strategic Partners
Sunrise Strategic Partners, LLC (“Sunrise”), based in Boulder, Colorado, provides growth expertise and capital to differentiated and authentic emerging brands in the healthy, active and sustainable living space that resonate with Millennials, have a strong proof of concept, and need capital for growth. The Sunrise team is deeply experienced in scaling brands and supports these investments by adding strategic value and guidance on tactical priorities. Sunrise Strategic Partners was founded by Steve Hughes, founder of Boulder Brands, in partnership with Trilantic North America, a leading private equity firm. For more information, visit www.sunrisestrategicpartners.com

About Trilantic North America
Trilantic Capital Management L.P. (“Trilantic North America”) is a private equity firm focused on control and significant minority investments in North America. Trilantic North America’s primary investment focus is in the business services, consumer, and energy sectors. Trilantic North America currently manages six private equity fund families with aggregate capital commitments of $8.8 billion. For more information, visit www.trilanticnorthamerica.com.