Crunchies tightens its belt in Ch. 11
Since filing for bankruptcy protection on Aug. 15, Crunchies has laid off eight people — about a third of its full-time staff — at its Westlake Village headquarters, has reduced expenses by about $2 million and has put marketing initiatives and new product development on hold for the rest of the year.
Crunchies moves to block takeover bid with Chapter 11 filing
Westlake Village-based Crunchies Food Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, alleging that one of its largest vendors has attempted a hostile takeover of the fast-growing freeze-dried snacks maker.
Venture capital firm hungers for health-foods startups
Santa Barbara-based venture capital firm NGEN Partners has a new investing focus on a somewhat unlikely sector: healthy, environmentally friendly food.
Since its founding in 2001, NGEN has had a focus on funding sustainability-oriented companies. Its early focus was on energy and materials. Catalytic Solutions, a nanotechnology firm spun out of UC Santa Barbara that made emissions scrubbing cheaper and more effective in automobiles, was an early investment. Soraa, an LED lighting firm created by several UCSB professors that has gone on to receive big money from Khosla Ventures and others, remains active in the firm’s portfolio.
Crunch time: Recession couldn’t stop ascent of freeze-dried snacks maker
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