Kevin Hart's VitaHustle raises fresh capital from Black-owned private equity firm Axum Capital

Axum Capital Partners, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based private equity firm focused on health and wellness food and beverage brands, has made a growth equity investment in VitaHustle, the plant-based all-in-one nutrition company co-founded by comedian, actor and entrepreneur Kevin Hart, according to a press release issued on May 28.

The deal marks Axum's latest bet on the intersection of celebrity-driven brand building and the fast-growing functional nutrition market, where consumer demand for clean, convenient protein and supplement products has outpaced the broader food and beverage sector for several consecutive years.

VitaHustle was co-founded by Hart and his longtime personal trainer Ron "Boss" Everline with a straightforward commercial premise: most people know they need to eat better but find the complexity of modern nutrition advice, multiple supplements, separate protein shakes and elaborate meal prep, a barrier to actually doing it. VitaHustle's flagship product is an all-in-one daily nutrition shake combining 20 grams of plant-based protein, 86 superfood nutrients, vitamins, minerals, probiotics and adaptogens in a single scoop. The product is free from dairy, gluten, soy and added sugars, and is available in seven flavours including Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, Cafe Latte, Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana and Blueberry Cobbler.

The brand has built meaningful retail distribution since its launch. It is available at Walmart locations nationwide, through iHerb's direct-to-consumer platform across more than 180 countries following a September 2025 global launch, and through QVC. Hart has personally appeared at Walmart store events to support the brand, including a surprise appearance at the Santa Clarita Walmart Supercenter during a Walmart Wellness Day event.

Hart's wellness investment portfolio extends beyond VitaHustle. His venture fund Hartbeat Ventures, which operates alongside his broader Hartbeat entertainment company, has backed several health-oriented companies including Function Health, SweatPals and Palta, alongside its VitaHustle position.

Axum Capital Partners was founded in 2010 by Charles Williams and is one of the few Black-owned private equity firms operating in the food and beverage sector at a meaningful scale. The firm concentrates on established, fast-growing health and wellness-oriented brands with between $3 million and $15 million in EBITDA and less than $250 million in revenue, targeting companies where its sector expertise, operating experience and distribution network connections can accelerate growth beyond what the founding team could achieve independently. Its portfolio has included restaurant concepts and branded consumer products, with recent investments including Clean Juice in April 2026 and Le Botaniste in September 2025.

The firm describes its investment philosophy as hands-on partnership rather than passive capital provision, working alongside management teams through each stage of the investment. Its Charlotte base and Southeast US roots give it proximity to one of the fastest-growing consumer markets in the United States, where health and wellness spending has grown consistently above the national average as the region's demographic composition has shifted toward younger, more health-conscious consumers.

The VitaHustle investment arrives as the functional nutrition and protein supplement market continues to expand globally. Allied Market Research estimated the global protein supplement market at $21.5 billion in 2023 and projected it to reach $36 billion by 2032. Plant-based protein specifically is growing faster than the overall category, driven by consumers who are not vegetarian or vegan but who prefer cleaner ingredient profiles, lower environmental impact and easier digestibility compared to whey-based alternatives.

Hart's personal fitness journey has been central to VitaHustle's brand positioning. He has spoken publicly about recovering from a serious car accident in 2019 and using fitness and nutrition as the foundation of that recovery. That authenticity, a celebrity founder who actually uses and believes in the product, gives VitaHustle a credibility advantage over purely celebrity-licensed brands where the endorser's connection to the product category is superficial.

The deal terms were not disclosed. Axum Capital Partners and VitaHustle did not specify the size of the investment, the valuation at which it was made, or the resulting ownership structure in the press release.