Ownership profile
Who owns Kettle & Fire?
Kettle & Fire is a privately held bone broth company (operating as Kettle and Fire Inc.) that in early 2025 completed a $43 million secondary buyout led by growth-equity investor Colter Ventures, which bought out earlier investors but publicly stated it does not hold a majority stake; co-founders remain shareholders.
Ownership profile
Kettle & Fire
Kettle and Fire Inc.
Evidence (10)
The legal trademark owner is 'Kettle and Fire Inc.' per USPTO filings
https://trademark.justia.com/owners/kettle-and-fire-inc-3449509Kettle & Fire confirmed to Just Food that the Colter Ventures investment bought out previous investors but 'did not amount to a majority stake in the business'
https://www.just-drinks.com/news/kettle-fire-receives-43m-investment/Co-founders Nick and Justin Mares remain shareholders after the transaction; specific terms were not disclosed
https://www.just-drinks.com/news/kettle-fire-receives-43m-investment/Kettle & Fire secured a $43 million secondary buyout led by Colter Ventures in March 2025
https://www.nosh.com/news/2025/kettle-fire-nets-43m-from-colter-ventures/Colter Ventures is classified as a venture capital / growth-equity firm focused on later-stage consumer CPG brands; it does not operate under a traditional fund structure
https://superscout.co/investor/colter-venturesPitchBook lists Colter Ventures as a venture capital firm founded in 2018 and based in Aspen, Colorado
https://pitchbook.com/profiles/investor/706659-76Earlier investors included CAVU Venture Partners ($8 million Series A in 2018) and others including The Pritzker Organization, Captivate Partners, and Northwood Ventures
https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/180640-99PitchBook classifies Kettle & Fire as a private company
https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/180640-99Colter Ventures founder Sam McBride described structuring the deal to align 'investors, founders, and operators'
https://www.foodandbeverage.business/manufacturing/kettle-fire-secures-investment-from-colter-ventures/Kettle & Fire is headquartered in Austin, Texas and was founded in 2014 by brothers Justin and Nick Mares
https://cavuconsumer.com/partner/kettle-and-fire/What's uncertain
- Colter Ventures sits at the intersection of growth equity and venture capital; some sources (PitchBook) classify it as VC, others describe it as growth equity. It is not a traditional leveraged-buyout PE firm, but its secondary buyout structure and consumer-brand focus overlap with PE practice.
- The exact ownership percentage held by Colter Ventures was not publicly disclosed; the company confirmed only that it is not a majority stake.
- Earlier investors (CAVU, Northwood, Pritzker Organization, Captivate Partners) may retain residual minority positions post-buyout — this was not confirmed.
- No SEC EDGAR Form D filing for the 2025 round was independently located during this investigation.
- No state business registry record was independently pulled to confirm current corporate structure or any holding-company layers.
- pe_involvement is scored 'influenced' (not 'controlled') because Kettle & Fire itself stated Colter Ventures does not hold a majority stake.