Sunshine Buns, started in 2022 by four Utah friends, raised $7 million

A Utah frozen cinnamon roll company that began as a home-baking project among four friends has raised $7 million (£5.5 million) in Series A funding. The money will help it grow its reach in stores across the country. Sunshine Buns, based in Orem, announced the new investment as its products arrive in the freezer aisles of Target stores nationwide and in Southern California Costco warehouses. The funding round will pay for more production capacity, more product on hand, more marketing, and more hiring, according to industry trade outlet Food Business News. The business was founded in 2022 by Chrisi Hammer, her husband Matt, and their friends Brian and Kass Martin. The brand is built on a family cinnamon roll recipe created more than 45 years ago by Chrisi Hammer’s mother, who is lovingly known as Mema. “Mema had her first cinnamon roll in the 1970s and knew she could make something better,” Chrisi Hammer explained in an interview published by the Startup State Initiative, a Utah state government business platform. “She worked for years to create the perfect recipe, and boy, did she deliver.”From theatre chat to immediate sell-outThe four co-founders had talked for a long time about ...