Ample Hills Creamery is a technology company.
Ample Hills Creamery has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round.
Ample Hills Creamery has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Ample Hills Creamery has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Ample Hills Creamery's investors include AngelPad, BITKRAFT Ventures, BoxGroup, ENIAC Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Notion Capital, Pro Founders Capital, Shine Capital, Slow Ventures, The Finger Group, Weekend Fund, Y Combinator.
Ample Hills Creamery is not a technology company; it is a Brooklyn-based artisanal ice cream maker specializing in unique, high-quality flavors made from scratch. Founded in 2011, it produces inventive ice cream varieties like Snap Mallow Pop, Cherry Cola, Morning in Paris (with puréed croissants and raspberry jam), and Banana Pudding (with bananas and Nilla Wafers), served through physical shops and online ordering.[1][2][5] The company serves ice cream enthusiasts, families, and communities seeking playful, nostalgic treats that foster social connections, solving the problem of bland, mass-produced desserts by emphasizing fresh, homemade ingredients and "the Great American Scoop."[1][3][4]
After rapid growth to 16 stores across four states, aggressive expansion (including Disney partnerships), production issues, and pandemic impacts led to bankruptcy in 2020, the brand was sold.[1][3] Founders relaunched with a refined formula—fewer egg yolks, less sugar, more glucose for better texture—and new shops like Brooklyn's The Social in 2021, showing resilient growth momentum via online delivery and community-focused revival.[1][3][5]
Ample Hills Creamery was founded in 2011 by Brian Smith, a Brooklyn screenwriter, and his wife Jackie Cuscuna, inspired by Smith's homemade ice cream socials that wooed Cuscuna with raved-about concoctions.[1][3] The idea emerged from Smith's passion for childlike, bold flavors—no subtle options like Earl Grey—drawing from Walt Whitman poetry for the name.[1][3] They opened their first brick-and-mortar shop just before Memorial Day 2011, selling out that night and closing briefly to regroup amid overwhelming demand.[1]
Early traction exploded: Oprah Winfrey named it a "favorite thing," and a serendipitous order for Disney CEO Robert Iger led to a major partnership, making Ample Hills the official ice cream of Disneyland and beyond.[3] Growth hit 16 stores by 2020, but overexpansion, poor locations (e.g., Los Feliz), production setbacks, and no pandemic bailout forced bankruptcy and sale.[1][3] Smith refined recipes in lockdown with a Vitamix, relaunching via The Social in 2021 to recapture community roots.[1][3]
Ample Hills Creamery operates outside the tech sector, thriving in the artisanal food and consumer goods space amid trends like premium, experiential desserts and direct-to-consumer models.[2][5] It rides the wave of Brooklyn's foodie destination status and post-pandemic demand for joyful, local indulgences, with online ordering enabling wider reach without heavy tech reliance.[1][5] Market forces favoring it include consumer shifts to unique, Instagram-worthy treats and recovery from bankruptcy via streamlined ops, influencing the local ecosystem by boosting neighborhood foot traffic and inspiring other craft food brands' community focus.[1][3][4]
Ample Hills is poised for steady expansion through its core strengths in flavor innovation and community ties, potentially scaling online sales and pop-ups while avoiding past overreach.[1][5] Trends like health-conscious tweaks (e.g., glucose-balanced bases) and seasonal flavors will shape growth, with influence evolving as a Brooklyn revival story for food startups emphasizing authenticity over VC-fueled hype.[1][3] This ties back to its non-tech reality: a scoop shop proving handmade delight outmelts algorithms.
Ample Hills Creamery has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Seed in November 2015.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 1, 2015 | $4.0M Seed | AngelPad, BITKRAFT Ventures, BoxGroup, ENIAC Ventures, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Notion Capital, Pro Founders Capital, Shine Capital, Slow Ventures, The Finger Group, Weekend Fund, Y Combinator, Ben Lin, Eben Pagan, Scott Belsky |