Hampton Creek became Just Mayo became Just, became Eat Just and....
I've lost track of how much money this one has burned through, in part because they don't always disclose the size of their funding rounds, of which the last one was a "G" round if memory serves, though it could be deeper into the alphabet.
All the while the management since 2011 has been trying to find a business they can make money at, keeping the plates spinning, raising new money and playing fast and loose with their customers, suppliers the media and it looks like their funders.
We used to call it the create-a-corp. model, if we can just hang in their long enough... (see also yesterday's post on The Lindy Effect)
Here's the latest from AgFunderNews:
September 1: "Eat Just closes financing round led by VegInvest/Ahimsa Foundation, moves ‘closer to operational profitability’ in JUST Egg operation"
September 6: "Eat Just’s GOOD Meat division hasn’t paid its bills, says bioreactor co; parties in arbitration"
September 8: "Eat Just/GOOD Meat sued by 2nd engineering firm (CRB) for failing to pay its bills on time"
Some previous posts:
August 2021
"Inside Silicon Valley’s Mayo Marketing Madness"
Remember Just Mayo? For a while it was just Just. Now it's Eat Just. They've pivoted off the vegan pitch and among other things are experimenting with cultured cellular meat.And raising money. In March they announced they had brought in another $200 million, bringing the total take to 2/3 of a billion dollars....
As noted in 2020's "Singapore is the first country to approve the sale of lab-grown meat":
February 2019
Remember Just Mayo? They Rebranded to Just and Raised Another $200 Million
Mr. Tetrick is one tech bro I would not trust with anything.
And what's with all the rebranding going on? Snapchat becomes Snap, WeWork is now We and Google became Goo Alphabet.
FDA Says "No Eggs, Not Mayo": VC-backed Hampton Creek's CEO Is Defiant
July 2017
Hampton Creek, Attempting the 2 1/2 Twisting Reverse Uber, Sticks the Faceplant Landing! Entire Board Leaves, CEO Remains!
And the Valley is going crazy!
But seriously, we would have expected nothing less. What a performance!
Bill Gates Invests In Another Lab-Grown Meat Company
"Bill Gates headlines an all-star list of investors pumping $75 million into meatless burgers"
Mr. Gates also partnered with Li Ka-Shing and Khosla on Hampton Creek which is attempting to pivot from Just Mayo into laboratory-grown 'meat'.*
"Mayo-scandal firm Hampton Creek from San Francisco going whole hog for Frankenmeat: report"
Just Mayo Guy, Hampton Creek's Josh Tetrick, Pivots to Industrial Scale Ingredient Supply Biz
Hampton Creek: Remember All Our Vegetarian Talk? Never Mind
Questions America Wants Answered: Is Eating Lab Grown Human Flesh Cannibalism?
"People buying meat from strangers on social media is a serious problem"
Seven Startups Creating Lab-Grown Meat
Target Corp. Cuts Ties With Hampton Creek: Just Say No to Just Mayo
Hampton Creek (Just Mayo) Reports an Attempted Employee Coup
"Just Mayo" Guys, Hampton Creek, Used Investor Money To Buy Its Own Product Off Store Shelves
Silicon Valley's Favorite Futuristic Food Company, Hampton Creek, May Be A Bit Fraudy
Just Pay-O?
Either way, Elizabeth Holmes breathes a sigh of relief as she drops off the front page.
May 8, 2017
Bro Culture Apparently Works Best With An Unending Supply of Other People's Money: Hampton Creek Edition
“Leveraging our Hampton Creek Instagram channel through condiment launches for our Just Mayo and Just Dressings allows us to showcase our condiments in a playful, creative way and allows us to connect with different consumer demographics across the country. We also leverage Hampton Creek fan reposts and user-generated content...."That is Hampton Creek's brand marketing director quoted in Progressive Grocer.
As the man said when told his Chinese takeaway was cultural appropriation:
When you talk like that you are self-identifying as an idiot.Ahem.
Last Wednesday the Financial Times' David Keohane pointed us to a Hampton Creek article that reminded me of nothing so much as Christopher Isherwood's sad stories of the he-whores and she-whores who overstayed the great Wiemar Berlin party of the 1920's.
All I could think of was "Dude, the rave's over, go home"....
Hampton Creek CEO Fires Top Execs After Fundraising Struggle
