Good Culture, an Irvine, Calif.-based company offering “re-imagined cottage cheese” and elevated cultured dairy products without hurting the planet or the animals, announced the closing of an $8 million funding round. The round was led by CAVU Venture Partners, with significant investment from 301 Inc., General Mills’ new business development and venturing unit, and Almanac Insights, an early stage investment firm founded by David Barber, co-owner of Blue Hill. The funding will advance Good Culture in its next chapter through expanded distribution and product development to grow in the overall dairy category.

“When we entered the market with our disruptive cottage cheese range, it was our aim to responsibly make real-food, simple-ingredient, superfood products that tasted amazing and worked toward a larger goal of creating a material change to the food system,” said Jesse Merrill, Good Culture’s CEO and co-founder. “We have found incredible partners in CAVU, 301 Inc. and Almanac, and this round is a testament that the better dairy, and more broadly, the real food space, is one with exponential potential.”

Clayton Christopher, cofounder of CAVU Venture Partners, said his firm is always looking to support brands with a mission to change the environment and to support better-for-you eating.

“We believed in them in 2016 and are excited to invest again with the brand as a part of their continued growth and progress, as Good Culture is at the helm of this dormant category's reinvention.”