# The Cookie Department

Keto cookies inspired by a husband's love for his medically challenged wife.


## Elevator pitch
The Cookie Department has offered a line of traditional cookie flavors like Chocolate Chip and Ginger Snap with added functional ingredients like Fair Trade coffee and superfoods. Last year we expanded, and now also offer a line of cookies that are gluten-free certified, have 1 gram of sugar, and 3-4 net carbohydrates to appeal to the ever growing low-carb consumer market. 

- Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/the.cookie.department
- Entity ID: wefunder:company:25754
- Last updated: 2026-06-16T05:02:13Z
- Generated at: 2026-06-16T22:40:01Z

## Quick facts
- Available in 386 GNC locations in 44 states
- Featured on HGTV's Self Made Mansions
- Designated as an "Amazon's Choice" product.
- E-Commerce sales up 188% YTD
- In talks with Costco, Walmart, Target, Meijer, and HEB

## Active fundraises
- wefunder:fundraise:18720: 4(a)(6) successful (USD)

## Story
Back in 2009, I was sitting at a coffee shop and observed as patron after patron purchased a cookie or baked good along with a cup of coffee. I wondered about the possibility of combining the two, to create a caffeinated cookie. My mom is an amazing baker, so her kitchen, with her help was a great place to test the concept. After over 60 trial and error batches, we finally perfected what would become the signature cookie. So, the Awaken Baked was born, and I started selling to 5 or so local coffee shops. As my little passion project grew, my mom's kitchen was no longer sufficient for baking, so I made an arrangement with my cousin who owns an artisan bread bakery in Berkeley, CA. During the day I was a Bakery Sales Manager, at night I baked 20 dozen or so Awaken Baked cookies and in the early mornings, I delivered the cookies to my handful of local customers.Gaining tractionOver the next 2 years, I created 2 additional cookie flavors and it became apparent that I needed to better leverage my time and energy. I decided to try making our cookies packaged, instead of daily baked. I picked up some cellophane envelopes and had some stickers printed. I went to a movie theater, a college campus, and climbing gyms in Berkeley and Oakland, CA, testing out what kind of sales I could generate. I was starting to have some solid traction with the packaged cookie model, so I needed a financial boost to break into a larger  market. At this point I was still doing all the baking myself, as well as the packaging and delivery. To invest everything I could into my venture, I moved back into my parents home and sold my car to buy a used delivery van, which I had wrapped with the company logo.I did a small friends and family investment round that I used to buy my own packaging machine. I also transitioned from baking the cookies myself to using a contract bakery in San Francisco and launched several more SKUs, 6 in total at one point.After extensive solicitation everywhere I could think of, a break came. I was invited to participate in a Google food fair, and our cookies were accepted into the Mountain View Google campus as a free snack offering for their employees. We had become a budding foodservice and alternative distribution business, focusing on more tech companies, gyms, juice bars, movie theaters, college campuses, and hotels. We also got a contract with Spirit Airlines to sell our cookies as part of a snack box on their airplanes. Consumer demand for low sugar, low carb snacksAs the saying goes, "when you're not growing, you're dying", and although we've spent years trying to compete in the functional cookie space, we've encountered various growth-inhibiting challenges. Among them has been the growing customer demand for lower sugar, lower carbohydrate snack options. Although 30% of the sugar in our classic line is  derived from dates rather than evaporated cane sugar, these cookies still contain over 20g of sugar per cookie, thus limiting our target market.As leading grocery, convenience and meal plan companies are beginning to dedicate entire sections to ketogenic friendly products, and "ketogenic" was the number one google-searched diet of 2018 and 2019 with explosive industry growth projections, in August, 2019 we launched 2 Ketogenic friendly, gluten-free cookies that contain only 1 gram of sugar and 3-4 net carbs. Keto is personalMy wife has had an arduous healing journey from debilitating traumatic brain injuries. On the Dr. prescribed ketogenic diet, her blood sugar has stabilized, and nerve pain and brain fog have decreased. I've been baking treats that allow her to indulge while also taking good care of her body for years, and now others can also enjoy these goodies. And our growth since launching this line demonstrates that not only do people like these cookies, but the more people are exposed to them, the larger our customer base becomes. Many testimonials claim we produce the best keto cookies on the market!The shift The Cookie Department neededAt the end of 2019 we had 7 SKUs and our e-commerce sales were skyrocketing  Amazon sales up nearly XXXXXX, and we were averaging 1-2 new retail parters every day. We were off to the races!And then Covid hit... But we're still here! Our keto powered exponential growth slowed considerably as our manufacturer shut for 4 of the first 8 months of the Pandemic, we experienced significant supply chain delays,  around 80% of our wholesale customers temporarily shut their doors and grocery buyers put a freeze on reviewing new items. Yet, despite the challenges,  as so many small business have faced ruin due to covid, we've been blessed to survive with projections for significant growth in 2021. 

## FAQ
1. **Hi, great presentation. I'm tempted to invest just because of the perks! But I do have questions: 1. Valuation is high considering how long you've been in business and your rate of growth (even at 50% annual growth you don't hit this valuation for more than 5 years). How do yo...**
   - Hi Alan, Thank you so much for your interest in investing in The Cookie Department and I'm delighted to answer your questions.  We set up the perks so it would be hard for people to turn down the opportunity...  Who doesn't like cookies, right?! We didn't assign a valuation for this round as it's a convertible note, and a valuation cap applies to convertible note rounds (valuation cap, not to be confused with valuation). For more information a...
2. **When does this investment round end?**
   - Hi Michael,Great question! This investment round ends on 2/26/2019.
3. **Hi, I am an investor from Malaysia. I have 4 questions: 1) Referring to your FY2017 statement, accounts receivable increased about 4 times while revenue increased less than 10% (both compared to FY2016). Why was it so? 2) What was the loan to shareholder of $63k (FY2017 figure...**
   - Good afternoon Yoong,Thank you so much for the questions.  I'm sorry for the delay.  I've been super busy opening up new accounts this week.  1.The revenue in Q4 2017 exceeded the revenue for Q 4 2016 by 70%, thus the timing of incoming revenue Q over Q, coupled with extended payment terms for larger orders booked in 2017 vs 2016 resulted in a higher AR balance at year end. 53% of the 2017 A/R balance was however in the  "current' bucket as of year end....
4. **Akiva, any updates to share? Also, with the surge in Plant Based diets, are you considering additional vegan options?**
   - Hi there Brandon,Thank you so much for the email and I'm very sorry for the delay in responding.  We're not launching any new vegan cookies in the near future however we are working towards launching two new KETO cookies.  We've been getting a ton of interest from current customers and potential buyers.  They're all starting to demand great tasting KETO products and we're going to be there to fulfill their needs!  The cookies are low carb, high in fat and have barely any s...
5. **Do you intend to pay a dividend?**
   - Hi Craig, thank you for the question. At this moment we are not paying a dividend and we don't have any plans to in the near future.  

## Team
- Akiva Resnikoff (Founder & CEO The Cookie Department)
- Andrea Kirschner MBA (CFO)
- Bridget Jacobs (Creative Director)
- Elannah C Cramer (Brain Injury Survivor, keto cookie inspiration)
- Alex Svoboda  (Digital Marketing Advisor)

## Q&A
- Q: Hi, I am an investor from Malaysia. I have 4 questions: 1) Referring to your FY2017 statement, accounts receivable increased about 4 times while revenue increased less than 10% (both compared to FY2016). Why was it so? 2) What was the loan to shareholder of $63k (FY2017 figure, for non-business related) about? 3) How much is the break-even revenue? How fast you expect to achieve that? 4) Is it possible to give an update on financial figures up to 2018Q3? Thanks.
  - A: Good afternoon Yoong,Thank you so much for the questions.  I'm sorry for the delay.  I've been super busy opening up new accounts this week.  1.The revenue in Q4 2017 exceeded the revenue for Q 4 2016 by 70%, thus the timing of incoming revenue Q over Q, coupled with extended payment terms for larger orders booked in 2017 vs 2016 resulted in a higher AR balance at year end. 53% of the 2017 A/R balance was however in the  "current' bucket as of year end.2. As founder and CEO of the company, in lieu of a salary for the year 2017, I received a loan to be repaid if and when the company is acquired.3.B/E Revenue is ~ $290K/month and we are expecting to achieve it by end of the 1st half of 2019.4.Through August 2018, we are tracking 4% below YTD projections from a revenue standpoint, but booked 26% lower Net Income loss vs projections for the same timeframe. The main focus lies on increasing the revenue footprint in the grocery segment in Oregon in Q4 '17, while closely monitoring spend to ensure growth strategy is supported.
- Q: Terns
- Q: Is there any update from this company?
- Q: Is there any update from this company?
- Q: Can you please start sending quarterly updates to investors?
  - A: Hey Andrew, yes we will be providing updates more often in 2021.  Happy New Year
- Q: Any updates I have seen anything in a while now.
  - A: Hey Taylor, thanks for checking in.  I will be updating the Wefunder community today.  Happy holidays!  
- Q: Do you sell on the cookies on Amazon?  I have found a lot of similar products there, but of the ones I tried, yours are *much* better.
  - A: Hey Ric, really glad you enjoyed our cookies!  Our cookies are going live on Amazon Prime at the end of July.  We're starting with our Great Full and Chocolate Chip Nookie flavors and then in August we will be launching our new KETO gluten free flavors on Amazon.  Thanks for the message! 
- Q: How do I get K1 form for 2018
  - A: Hi Jerry. We are a CA c-Corp and because of that we don’t use K-1s
- Q: So, convertible notes are not available at this time?
  - A: Hi Anthony, by investing in this Wefunder round, you are investing in a convertible note. This is a convertible note round 
- Q: What is the minimum for a convertible note?
  - A: Hi Anthony. $100 will get you into this round. 
- Q: can you send me a term sheet?
  - A: Hey Alan, everything we have available to investors is already on the Wefunder platform.
- Q: Do you intend to pay a dividend?
  - A: Hi Craig, thank you for the question. At this moment we are not paying a dividend and we don't have any plans to in the near future.  
- Q: Akiva, any updates to share? Also, with the surge in Plant Based diets, are you considering additional vegan options?
  - A: Hi there Brandon,Thank you so much for the email and I'm very sorry for the delay in responding.  We're not launching any new vegan cookies in the near future however we are working towards launching two new KETO cookies.  We've been getting a ton of interest from current customers and potential buyers.  They're all starting to demand great tasting KETO products and we're going to be there to fulfill their needs!  The cookies are low carb, high in fat and have barely any sugar.  The flavors include- Double Chocolate Mint and Birthday CakeI will be posting an update on sales and pipeline shortly.  Thank you again for checking in. Best,Akiva
- Q: When does this investment round end?
  - A: Hi Michael,Great question! This investment round ends on 2/26/2019.
- Q: Hi, great presentation. I'm tempted to invest just because of the perks! But I do have questions: 1. Valuation is high considering how long you've been in business and your rate of growth (even at 50% annual growth you don't hit this valuation for more than 5 years). How do you see revenue truly taking off like it hasn't before? 2. I am impressed with everything you say about your recipe, but of course there is really no IP in your industry. What stops a larger company with deep pockets and greater efficiency from copying you at a lower price point? 3. What is your current cash and monthly burn, and how will that burn rate change as you pursue the growth you describe?
  - A: Hi Alan, Thank you so much for your interest in investing in The Cookie Department and I'm delighted to answer your questions.  We set up the perks so it would be hard for people to turn down the opportunity...  Who doesn't like cookies, right?! We didn't assign a valuation for this round as it's a convertible note, and a valuation cap applies to convertible note rounds (valuation cap, not to be confused with valuation). For more information as to why we chose a convertible note over a priced round, please check out the following video: https://learn.onemonth.com/what-are-convertible-notes-and-why-use-them/ . As an example: Company A grows to $5m in revenue in the next few years and then does a priced round at 3.5x revenue, yielding a valuation of $17.5m. In this case, new investors in that priced round would be paying for shares at the $17.5m valuation while your money would be converting at a $7.5m valuation minus the 15% discount, or $6.375m. In return for taking the risk of being in earlier, you'd be getting equity for less than half of what inbound investors would be paying.  That $7.5m valuation is the CAP.  In a more modest scenario, like $1.5m in revenue at a 3.5x revenue multiple ,yielding a valuation of $5.25m. Then the valuation cap wouldn't matter but the discount of 15% would.2. In terms of IP on recipes, the only way that we or any other food brand can protect our recipes is to keep them confidential, as we have since our inception.  Not even my mother knows the formulations! Although it's possible for a larger company to attempt to replicate our formulations via trial and error, its far more common in the industry for the big companies to acquire small brands like ours, rather than attempt to replicate them. Many massive companies have entire departments dedicated solely to the acquisition of smaller, healthier brands. As the functional foods industry continues to grow, I'm sure we will see more and more products hit the market that serve a similar function and have comparable flavors to ours. As you know, there are countless options on the protein bar market, and yet we all have our favorites that we return to again and again. We intend to attract and maintain brand evangelists by continuing to innovate and making sure that we are one of the best tasting products out there. We aren't afraid of having competition (we already do), and as we grow the competition will continue to fuel our commitment to being the best brand that we can be for our customers. 3. TCD's Q2 daily cash burn rate was $ 529; in comparison, we project the daily cash burn rate to be $175 (avg)  for the year 2020. The main drivers that will generate this improvement are: increase in top line revenue stemming from expansion into new (and currently untapped) verticals (i.e. grocery) as well as expansion of product assortment; a better and more timely collection process through dedicated collection resources; improved payment terms, which allow us to move payables further out vs current payment terms of 10 - 20 days, as well as better inventory management.