Hardware Podcasts

Founder Fundraising Journey: Frozen One, Alan Chen & Conner Mennig

The Startup CPG Podcast · 25 Jul 2026 · 39m · Episode 344

What this episode covers

Alan Chen and Conner Mennig, co-founders of Frozen One, detail their journey from prototyping with a Ninja Creami machine to securing $5.5 million in funding and expanding into 2,300 retail doors, including Target and Wegmans. They discuss how their differentiated protein ice cream product, featuring 40 grams of protein and under 400 calories, allowed them to overcome investor skepticism about the frozen category by highlighting velocity data from early retailers like Central Market. The founders explain their three-stage fundraising process, from a $250k initial SAFE to an oversubscribed $2 million round, and their current focus on hiring key leadership, including a COO from Van Leeuwen, to manage rapid scaling.

Most relevant to

early-stage companies

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Frozen One, Target, Wegmans, Central Market, Van Leeuwen, Angel Group, Brand Foundry
Tools
Ninja Creami

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