Truff, a Costa Mesa-based maker of truffle hot sauces, added a new investor this month with television celebrity Kim Kardashian.
SKKY Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm founded by Kardashian and Jay Sammons in 2022, plans to make its first ever investment with a “significant minority” stake in Truff, the brand name for Sauce Ventures LLC.
Financial details were not disclosed; the deal is expected to close in the coming first quarter.
Sauce founders Nick Ajluni and Nick Guillen will continue to lead the condiment company as co-chief executives while adding Mark Ramadan, former CEO of Sir Kensington’s and chocolatier Hu, and SKKY’s Managing Director David Brisske to its board.
“Truff is exactly the kind of business that embodies what we were looking for when we founded SKKY – a next-generation brand with a deep, authentic connection with consumers and the potential for ongoing growth,” Kardashian said in a statement.
Sammons added: “The business has a very strong foundation and is now at the perfect juncture for us to bring our experience building and scaling unique consumer brands to help fuel the next stage of Truff’s growth.”
Truff was founded in 2017 and now counts a wide variety of condiment products, fused with truffle, stocked in over 20,000 grocers and big-box retailers. It’s sold more than 10 million bottles, according to a Forbes article in 2019, and has reached a valuation well over $25 million.
