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HumanCo VC
Jason Karp's HumanCo VC backs later-stage food and wellness brands like Cocojune and Kevin's Natural Foods with a hybrid holding company and venture model.
HumanCo VC
HumanCo VC was launched in 2020 by Jason Karp, the former co-CIO of Tourbillon Capital Partners, after he reversed his own autoimmune conditions through dietary changes. The firm emerged from a personal conviction that the food system is broken and that the most scalable health interventions are on grocery shelves, not in pharmaceutical pipelines. Karp structured HumanCo as a hybrid holding company and investment firm, co-founding an operating entity (HumanCo) alongside the venture arm to incubate and acquire brands outright. The investment strategy centers on later-stage, growth-equity rounds in consumer packaged goods, food-tech, and health-and-wellness companies. HumanCo participates in both minority and control positions, and has built a concentrated portfolio of brands that meet stringent nutritional and sourcing standards. Confirmed holdings include coconut yogurt maker Cocojune, regenerative-agriculture snack brand Lesser Evil, and paleo-focused frozen food company Kevin’s Natural Foods. The firm co-invests regularly with other health-aligned funds and family offices, and has completed select exits, including the sale of Hu Products to Mondelez International in 2021. The team operates primarily out of Austin, with additional presence in New York and San Francisco. While total team size and capital deployed remain undisclosed, the firm maintains an unusually lean partnership for a multi-stage consumer investor. September 2024: Cocojune, a HumanCo portfolio company, announced expanded distribution into 2,400 Target stores nationwide, reflecting the firm's focus on building mainstream retail footprints for its brands (per Grocery Dive, September 2024). The structural differentiator is HumanCo's dual mandate: it is both an investor in and an incubator of consumer brands, blurring the line between venture capital and an operating company. This allows it to influence product formulation, supply chains, and senior hires in ways that a passive minority investor cannot, while still participating in venture-scale returns through the fund vehicle.
General information
Firm type
Asset Manager
Year founded
2020
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Austin
Corporate office
Austin, TX, United States
Additional offices
New York, NY · San Francisco, CA
Principals
Jason Karp
Founder and CEO
Ross Berman
Partner and CFO/COO
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at HumanCo VC?
Jason Karp is the founder and CEO and serves as the primary decision-maker on investments. He previously served as co-CIO of Tourbillon Capital Partners, a multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, before shifting his focus entirely to health and food systems after addressing his own autoimmune conditions. Partner Ross Berman oversees finance and operations.
How does HumanCo VC source proprietary deal flow?
HumanCo sources deals through Jason Karp’s personal network in both the hedge fund and wellness worlds, as well as through the firm's operating arm, which gives it visibility into early-stage food brands seeking both capital and operational support. The firm also leverages co-investor relationships with other health-focused family offices and selectively evaluates inbound from clean-label founders.
Is HumanCo structured as a single family office or does it operate more like a venture firm?
HumanCo is structured as a growth-equity venture firm, not a single family office, though it does deploy personal capital from Jason Karp alongside external LPs. The firm also operates a distinct holding company that acquires or incubates brands, making the overall structure a hybrid uncommon among pure venture funds.
Does HumanCo VC participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?
HumanCo primarily executes direct deals, taking minority or control equity positions in later-stage consumer and food-tech companies. Public record does not indicate significant commitments to external venture funds as a limited partner; the firm concentrates its capital and operational resources on a concentrated set of direct portfolio companies.
What investment stages does HumanCo VC typically target?
The firm focuses on growth-stage and later-stage rounds, typically leading or co-leading rounds in companies that have existing retail distribution and a proven consumer base. It avoids pre-revenue and seed-stage food startups, preferring brands with real shelf presence that can scale through additional capital and operational refinement.
Which sectors does HumanCo explicitly avoid?
HumanCo does not invest in conventional packaged-food brands with artificial ingredients, high sugar content, or industrial seed oils. It also explicitly avoids pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical-device companies, concentrating instead on consumer-facing food, beverage, and wellness products that align with its clean-label and nutrient-density standards.
What is HumanCo's known posture on co-investments alongside external GPs?
HumanCo regularly co-invests with other health-and-wellness-focused funds and family offices. The firm does not operate a formal co-investor club, but it syndicates deals opportunistically with mission-aligned partners, particularly those that can add distribution or supply-chain expertise to a given portfolio company.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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