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Meat-based snack brand WILDE has secured a $40 million investment from food and agriculture venture capital firm S2G Investments to fund its next stage of commercial expansion across manufacturing, new product development, and brand marketing.

The capital injection arrives as the Austin, Texas-based business surpasses $100 million in annual commercial turnover and expands its physical footprint across more than 35,000 retail stockists nationwide. The funding follows the recent commissioning of WILDE’s 130,000-square-foot manufacturing plant, an infrastructure project that expanded the company’s internal production capacity sixfold as the sole USDA-regulated salty snack facility globally.

The new resources will be deployed to accelerate high-protein snack format innovation beyond the brand's core chicken breast Protein Chips, scaling recently introduced Protein Crackers while preparing additional formats for commercial release.

Dedicated Manufacturing and Scaled Processing Capacity

A primary operational asset underpinning WILDE’s market expansion is its proprietary, company-owned production infrastructure:

130,000-Square-Foot Facility: Operates as the world's only USDA-inspected salty snack processing plant, purpose-built to handle raw animal protein in commercial crisp production.

Sixfold Throughput Increase: The newly opened facility expands aggregate volume output by 600%, resolving past processing bottlenecks and providing the bandwidth needed to supply mass, grocery, and club channels.

Vertical Manufacturing Control: Internalising the manufacturing matrix allows the producer to protect formulation intellectual property, manage strict microbiological standards, and optimise gross margins without relying on third-party co-packers.

By building dedicated processing lines capable of transforming real chicken breast into thin, shelf-stable, crispy substrates, the business eliminates the typical reliance on starch fillers or soy isolates commonly found across the ambient savoury snack fixture.

Stretch and Platform Diversification

The growth capital from S2G will support WILDE's evolution from a single-format product company into a diversified savoury snacking platform.

Following the commercial introduction of its baked Protein Crackers earlier this year, the company is formulating adjacent salty snack formats to capture varied consumption occasions across midday desk snacking, lunchboxes, and evening entertaining:

🍗 Protein Chips Platform: Foundational crisp portfolio made from 100% natural chicken breast, egg whites, and bone broth, delivering complete animal protein in traditional potato crisp flavours.

🌾 Protein Crackers Platform: Oven-baked savoury crackers designed to compete directly against conventional wheat- and flour-based table crackers with high protein density.

💡 Pipeline Snack Formats: Advanced NPD pipelines exploring alternative extruded and baked meat-based snack architectures designed to widen consumer demographic reach.

Alongside recipe and line development, the investment will finance a brand visual refresh, including updated packaging architecture and expanded national marketing campaigns to drive trial.

Venture Capital Backing and High-Protein Market Dynamics

The transaction marks S2G's latest capital deployment into nutrient-dense consumer packaged goods, targeting shifting consumer grocery habits where shoppers actively replace carbohydrate-dense snacks with high-protein alternatives.

With distribution established across 35,000 retail locations, the business will utilise the funding to improve in-store promotional support, accelerate velocity across mass grocery multiples, and expand brand awareness across mainstream North American retail channels.