{"id":526596,"date":"2026-06-09T17:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/526596\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T17:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T17:37:10","slug":"protein-bar-brand-stars-honey-gains-investment-from-vmg-partners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/526596\/","title":{"rendered":"Protein Bar Brand Stars + Honey Gains Investment From VMG Partners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tA challenger protein brand has gained a $24 million investment from VMG Partners<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tStars + Honey, which was founded in 2023 and is known for its dessert-flavored bars that deliver collagen and 15 grams of protein per serving, is joining the private equity firm\u2019s portfolio of brands.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe infusion marks the first outside investment for Stars + Honey, which launched at the precipice of the ongoing protein boom<\/a>, and projects $50 million in revenue in 2026. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cProtein <\/a>has become ubiquitous, but too much of the category has taught consumers that function comes at the expense of pleasure,\u201d said founder and chief executive officer Daniel Rainey, adding that Stars + Honey \u201cseeks to optimize protein intake over the mid- to long-term, rather than within each individual serving. Looking forward to your protein-focused snack drives the long-term habits that yield the results consumers are seeking.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tStars + Honey\u2019s core offering is its collagen protein bar, which is priced at $42 for a 10-pack and comes in more than 10 flavors including Iced Lemon Cookie and Cherry Chocolate Waffle. Sold direct-to-consumer and via Amazon, the bars are under 200 calories and are formulated without dairy, sugar alcohols or seed oils. <\/p>\n

\n\tVMG has previously invested in big-name protein companies including Quest, now owned by The Simply Good Foods Company, and Vega, now owned by WM Partners. The firm is an active investor in Ghost, know for its whey protein powder, and VMG counts Kind and Perfect Bar among its realized investments. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe\u2019ve invested in some of the most iconic bar brands over the past 20 years, which helped us
very quickly recognize how special Stars + Honey is,\u201d said McConnell Smith, general partner at
VMG, in a statement. \u201cDaniel\u2019s created a tremendous product that speaks to a really underserved consumer in the space.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tStars + Honey grew 300 percent in 2025, with women in their 30s through 50s being the brand\u2019s core demographic. The brand is among several emergents in the category seeking to seize the protein opportunity in innovative ways, including Peter Rahal\u2019s David Protein and even Khloe Kardashian\u2019s Khloud protein popcorn brand. <\/p>\n

\n\tWith this infusion, Stars + Honey looks to drive new product development and bolster its manufacturing capabilities. McConnell Smith will also join the company\u2019s board of directors as part of the deal.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe future of protein is not simply about delivering more grams \u2014 it\u2019s about creating products people genuinely love and want to incorporate into their daily lives,\u201d said Rainey. \u201cAs the protein space continues to expand, we see a significant opportunity to serve consumers who care as much about quality, taste and wellness<\/a> as they do about macros.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A challenger protein brand has gained a $24 million investment from VMG Partners. Stars + Honey, which was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":526597,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[277],"tags":[66632,18,135,19,17,3116,508,2555],"class_list":["post-526596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nutrition","tag-beauty-industry","tag-eire","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-ma","tag-nutrition","tag-wellness"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116721368848648793","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526596","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=526596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/526596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/526597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=526596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=526596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=526596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}