🚀 Edison Motors and KaleMart24 launch, a campaign ending soon & big beverage wins

🔔 Your campaign updates feed

🚛 Edison Motors has launched!

Edison Motors has launched on FrontFundr! They are raising funds to take the next big step toward manufacturing Electric Hybrid Vocational Trucks and EV Conversion Kits in Canada. With over 2,000 paid pre-orders, a growing community, and a factory underway in Golden, BC, the company is poised to scale production and deliver real innovation in commercial trucking.

Invest in Edison Motors | $8.6M Raised | 58% of target

🛒 KaleMart24 now on FrontFundr!

KaleMart24 is back on FrontFundr! They are raising funds to bring a new kind of convenience store to communities across Canada. With a unique grab-and-go model, a growing customer base, and plans for national expansion, KaleMart24 is redefining healthy eating on the move and making real food more accessible than ever.

Invest in KaleMart24 | $106K Raised | 43% of target

♻️ KIIMA closing soon and debuted their new podcast!

KIIMA is closing in 5 days! Be a part of the innovation, low waste solution in skincare with a patented, refillable applicator made in Quebec. Watch their podcast, Investir chez KIIMA, where they sit down with David Côté, co-founder of LOOP, a current Dragon on Dans l'œil du Dragon and investor in KIIMA. 

Invest in KIIMA | $465K Raised | 103% of target

🔔 Alumni updates

🍺Burwood Distillery brought home four medals at the 2025 USA Spirits Ratings in San Francisco. One of their standouts is The Bee Whisperer, an Alberta prairie whisky, won a gold medal and Canadian Spirit of the Year.

🍷Proxies is expanding their product line beyond wine with the release of their Dry Cider. This non-alc cider features crisp apple layered with some more roasted apple flavours, notes of white flowers and French oak, and a yeasty, lightly bitter finish. 

🥤Cooler Co. has been chosen as a finalist for this year’s BC Food & Beverage 2025 Rise Awards for Best in Brand. Their bold, playful, and authentic brand was created by friends to make kombucha cooler. If you want to show support, public voting starts Sept 9th. 

🚁AIRmarket and Infinite Drones has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly develop a turnkey BVLOS docking solution with RTM-enabled capabilities for Canada. The partnership aims to deliver scalable BVLOS operations for enterprise and public safety sectors. Read more here.

🤔 What’s on our minds

Kraft Heinz Split Explained: New Companies, New Strategies

When Kraft and Heinz merged in 2015, the deal was hailed as a transformative move for the food industry. Backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital, the merger brought together some of the most iconic brands in North America, including Kraft Singles, Heinz ketchup, and Oscar Mayer. At the time, it promised greater efficiency, increased scale, and stronger margins for shareholders.

But nearly a decade later, that vision has changed. On September 3, Kraft Heinz announced it will split into two independent, publicly traded companies by late 2026.

🍞 Two Companies, Two Missions

Here’s what the breakup looks like:

1. North American Grocery Co. (tentative name)

• Led by current CEO Carlos Abrams-Rivera

• Will focus on North American grocery staples like Oscar Mayer, Kraft Mac & Cheese, Lunchables, and Velveeta

• Estimated $10 billion in annual sales

2. Global Taste Elevation Co. (tentative name)

• Leadership TBD

• Will include globally recognized brands like Heinz, Philadelphia cream cheese, and Grey Poupon

• Expected to generate $15 billion in annual sales

The company says the split will allow each business to focus more clearly on its strategy, reduce internal complexity, and better adapt to regional markets.

📉 Warren Buffett Is Not Happy

One of the most vocal critics of the Kraft Heinz breakup is Warren Buffett. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns more than 27% of Kraft Heinz. He was not consulted about the decision and has made it clear that he disapproves of the move.

Buffett described the split as costly, disruptive, and unlikely to result in better products or improved shareholder returns. He also criticized the board for not allowing shareholders to vote on the change. The stock market seems to agree with his skepticism. On the day of the announcement, Kraft Heinz shares dropped by approximately 7%, and the company’s stock is down over 27% year-over-year.

Final thought:

The Kraft Heinz split is another example of a major conglomerate splitting up in favor of a more focused, segmented approach to brand management. Similar to Kellogg’s 2023 split, creating WK Kellogg Co., focused on cereals, and Kellanova, focused on snacks like Pringles and Cheez-It.

For consumers, the split may result in better-targeted products and faster innovation, but also in higher prices and fewer discounts. For investors, it’s a bet that smaller, more specialized companies can outperform a bloated conglomerate that’s trying to do everything at once.

The bigger question is whether either of these two new companies can reignite the strength of the Kraft Heinz brand. Over the last decade, the company has struggled to keep up with evolving food trends, such as health-conscious eating, plant-based alternatives, and premium “foodie” experiences. Simply splitting the company doesn’t solve those challenges, but it just might give each part of the business more room to try.

🎙️ Hear from our latest founder feature

Collective Arts: Fusing innovative beverages with emerging artists with Matthew Johnston

Q: What inspired the creation of Collective Arts?

A: The idea really came from a belief that creativity makes the world better. In the beverage industry, creativity was always in the liquid but not on the outside. Most labels were generic, following the same rules. We wanted to flip that by pairing world-class drinks with emerging artists and musicians. For the artists, it meant exposure beyond gallery walls; for consumers, it meant holding “the world’s most refreshing art gallery” in their hands. That spark was the moment Collective Arts was born, to bring art and beverages together in a purposeful way.

Q: What makes Collective Arts stand out in a crowded beverage market?

A: From the start, we’ve been unapologetically different. For us, it’s not enough to just make a great drink, though we do that too. It’s about building a borderless brand rooted in creativity and community. We’ve now had nearly 40,000 art submissions, paid over $1 million directly to artists, and kept ownership rights in their hands. Consumers today, especially Gen Z, want brands that stand for more than a product. That’s why when someone picks up a Collective Arts can, they’re not just buying a drink. They’re buying into a movement that blends culture, purpose, and creativity.

Q: Looking back, are there a few standout moments in Collective Arts’ journey?

A: It’s hard to pick just one, so I’ll give you a few. The first was our launch party at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. We had over 600 people show up, the walls covered in art, and for the first time, we saw beer drinkers reacting to this crazy idea we’d been working on. The second was our U.S. launch in Boston, being this young Canadian company making waves in such a creative city felt huge. And most recently, we’ve got some big initiatives coming up, new national retail partnerships and disruptive products, that I can’t fully share yet, but they’re among the moments I’m most proud of. Each of these milestones reminded me that what started as a small art project had the potential to grow into something much bigger.

🎧 Want to listen to the full episode?

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