Jesse & Ben’s Raises $10M Series A to Scale Seed-Oil-Free Frozen Fries Across National Retail
Jesse & Ben’s just raised a $10M oversubscribed Series A, and suddenly the frozen fry aisle has a pulse. Washington, DC built. Seed-oil-free. Three ingredients. Non-GMO potatoes, avocado oil or grass-fed beef tallow, sea salt and spices. That is not food science wearing a lab coat. That is restraint with a receipt.
Jesse Konig and Ben Johnson met at Wake Forest University, launched Swizzler from a food truck in 2014, survived the chaos of the restaurant business, then caught a signal most legacy food brands missed. During COVID, labor shortages and supply chain issues made hand-cut fries a liability. Most operators complained. These guys converted their commissary into a prototype facility and started engineering frozen fries that actually tasted like somebody cared.
That instinct just pulled in a heavyweight round led by Greycroft through its consumer brands fund, with Brian Bustamante-Nicholson and Eric Ryan backing the company. Eric Ryan, co-founder of Method, Olly, and Welly, is joining the board. Rich Products Ventures came in alongside operators and founders who understand consumer shifts before spreadsheets catch up: Andrew Abraham, Carter Comstock, Allison Ellsworth, Stephen Ellsworth, Nic Jammet, Jordan Brown, Lauryn Bosstick, and Michael Bosstick. Returning investors Willow Growth Partners, Sling Ventures, Midnight Venture Partners, and grt sht ventures doubled down too, which usually tells you conviction arrived early.
And the numbers move. Jesse & Ben’s launched at retail in June 2024. By 2025, the company grew more than 1,100%. Revenue in July 2025 alone topped all of 2024. Now the brand sits in more than 3,500 retail locations, including Whole Foods Market nationwide, Sprouts Farmers Market, Fresh Thyme Market, and MOM’s Organic Market. Next up: Target nationwide, Costco, and select Kroger divisions in 2026.
That kind of velocity does not happen because consumers suddenly woke up craving frozen potatoes with a philosophy degree. It happens because people are reading labels now like hedge fund managers read earnings reports. Seed oils became dinner-table debate material. Ingredient panels became trust exercises. Jesse & Ben’s walked into that conversation with a freezer bag that says more by saying less.
Three ingredients. No coatings. No preservatives. No binders. Oven-ready and air-fryer-ready. A category dominated for decades by industrial sameness suddenly has a brand talking like a restaurant operator instead of a food conglomerate committee. Ben Johnson stood up a 6,000 sq. ft. production facility during the seed phase. Audrey Burger joined as Founding President after leading Primal Kitchen.
Whole Foods named clean fats and tallow among its top food trends for 2026. Jesse & Ben’s did not chase the wave. They were already frying in it while the rest of the category was still trying to catch up.
