BOULDER, COLO. — Sunrise Strategic Partners, an accelerator of emerging brands founded by the former chief executive officer and founder of Boulder Brands, has invested in clean label chocolate brand Little Secrets, founded by the former vice-president of frozen sales for Boulder Brands. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Sunrise brings growth expertise and capital that will enable us to focus on business expansion and strengthen our team,” said Chris Mears, c.e.o. and founder of Little Secrets. “When I started Little Secrets, I wanted to create a chocolate candy that was delicious and a slightly less guilty pleasure. I’m now looking forward to expanding our product line across other proven forms and to bringing Little Secrets to more consumers across the country.”

Founded in 2015, Little Secrets products are made with Fair Trade ingredients, natural colors and natural flavors. The company offers two product lines: Chocolate Pieces and the recently launched Crispy Wafers. Little Secrets Chocolate Pieces come in sea salted peanut, dark chocolate, toasted coconut, peanut butter and sea salted almond varieties. Crispy Wafers products feature dark or milk chocolate covered wafer cookies in dark chocolate sea salt, milk chocolate sea salt and dark chocolate peanut butter varieties.

“When Chris left Boulder Brands to start Little Secrets, I was excited for him but sad to see him go,” said Steve Hughes, c.e.o. and co-founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners. “I’m thrilled to be partnering with him again on such an exciting business. Chris has done a terrific job bringing real innovation to the world of clean label chocolate, and we believe Little Secrets is at inflection point, as evidenced by the recent national launch of pieces and crispy wafers at Whole Foods.”

The Sunrise investment will aid Little Secrets in increasing distribution and marketing efforts to reach new consumers, the company said. Little Secrets recently launched nationwide in Whole Foods Market and is also available at HEB, Stop & Shop, King Soopers, Natural Grocers, Meijer and Wegmans.

The investment in Little Secrets is the ninth for Sunrise, which launched in 2016. The company’s portfolio also includes Kill Cliff, Kodiak Cakes, Maple Hill Creamery, Pact Organic, Perky Jerky, Teton Waters Ranch and Vital Farms.