Lil Bucks is a national brand offering tasty sprouted buckwheat treats. This loan will be used to purchase regenerative organic ingredients from family farms.
Lil Bucks has successfully positioned itself as a leader in the health-conscious snack market, offering innovative products that prioritize nutrition and flavor. Founded with the goal to pull traditional snacking toward regenerative sources, Lil Bucks specializes in snacks made from nutrient-dense certified-regenerative ingredients like buckwheat groats, which provide an excellent source of protein and fiber. Their dedication to quality and creativity has not only attracted health enthusiasts but has also fostered a loyal customer base eager for delicious alternatives.
Earlier this year, Lil Bucks reached a significant milestone by raising $3 million in their Series A Round of fundraising. This successful funding effort reflects strong investor confidence in the brand and highlights the growing demand for their regenerative snack offerings. The funds will enable Lil Bucks to expand its product line, enhance marketing strategies, and scale production to better meet consumer needs. This pivotal investment positions the company for continued growth and innovation in an increasingly competitive market.
In addition, Lil Bucks has now successfully completed their national rollout of their Clusterbucks product in Whole Foods and Target, and hired a new Chief Operating Officer who is streamlining operations and expanding distribution.
This Steward loan will be used to help Lil Bucks purchase the ingredients they need to boost production on the heels of their successful Series A Round fundraising. The bulk of loan funds will be used to purchase regenerative organic buckwheat and sunflower seeds directly from family farms. Over the past year, Lil Bucks has expanded the number of farmers from which they source, increasing resilience in their supply chain and supporting more regenerative farmers! They are now sourcing from eight different family farms for their buckwheat and three different farms for sunflower seeds.
One of the goals of Lil Bucks is to create national market demand for regeneratively-grown buckwheat—a crop that is often grown in the US as an off-season cover crop for little-to-no immediate economic return to the farmer. By creating this market demand, Lil Bucks can reliably deliver purchase orders to farms that have achieved regenerative certification, which, in turn, creates both an incentive and a viable path for conventional farms to transition to regenerative management. Currently, Lil Bucks is sourcing their buckwheat, sunflower seeds, maple syrup, and coconut products for their Lil Bucks crunch exclusively from ROC-certified producers. They are presently working with a network of Organic farmers to gain their Regenerative Organic certification so that Lil Bucks can secure a certified regenerative supply of ingredients for their much larger Clusterbucks line of products.
Lil Bucks Regenerative Sourcing & Sustainability:
Regenerative Organic Certified Sourcing
Supporting farmers transitioning to regenerative with Mad Agriculture
Certified Plastic Neutral Product
Production facility powered by 100% Renewable Energy
Decreasing carbon footprint from ingredient transportation with most activities including, growing, harvesting, processing, and warehousing taking place in the upper midwest
Lil Bucks Product Line is 100% CERTIFIED ROC
Lil Bucks Clusterbucks Product Line is made of mostly ROC CERTIFIED ingredients
This loan will be made to Lil Bucks LLC, an Illinois State Limited Liability Company, which sells food products made out of regenerative, U.S. grown buckwheat.
This loan will be used to purchase organic and regenerative organic ingredients needed for Lil Bucks’ products. This loan will also refinance a small amount of high interest business debt. Throughout the 12 month loan term, they will pay down the balance of the loan from monthly product sales. The total loan amount is $1,250,000.00 which will assist Lil Bucks in growing and expanding their business.
This is a secured loan with a first lien on all business assets. This includes the grain inventory they will purchase with this loan (both raw and finished), along with cash, accounts receivable, and other business assets. This loan is set at a 9.5% interest rate for the borrower, net interest rate 9% for lenders, with a 12 month term, and fully amortized monthly payments beginning 1 month after funds are disbursed.
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