# Nick Wiseman

> Nick Wiseman is the co-founder and CEO of Little Sesame, a Washington, D.C. born hummus company that grew from a 500-square-foot restaurant basement into a national consumer brand sold in nearly 3,000 stores. A third-generation Washingtonian who started cooking at 15 and trained on New York's fine-dining line, Wiseman built Little Sesame with chef Ronen Tenne and cousin David Wiseman, anchoring the brand to regeneratively grown organic chickpeas from Montana. In July 2025 the company closed an $8.5M Series A to fund a new 23,000-square-foot manufacturing facility and a push to convert 10,000 acres to regenerative farming by 2027.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Little Sesame
- **Organizations:** Little Sesame, DGS Delicatessen (former), Hill Prince (former cocktail bar)
- **From:** Washington, D.C., United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** University of California, Berkeley (referenced as schooling in California)
- **Known for:** Co-founded and scaled Little Sesame from a basement pop-up to nearly 3,000 retail stores nationwide, Closed an $8.5M Series A funding round in July 2025 (total funding ~$10.1M), Drove an estimated 46% of hummus category growth at Whole Foods Market

## Career timeline

- **~2003** — Begins cooking professionally at age 15
- **late 2000s** — Works as a line cook under Michelin-starred chef Michael White at Alto in New York, where he meets Ronen Tenne
- **2012** — Opens DGS Delicatessen, a Jewish-style deli in Washington, D.C., honoring the city's District Grocery Stores heritage
- **2015** — Launches Little Sesame as a pop-up in the 500-square-foot basement beneath DGS
- **2016** — Formally co-founds Little Sesame with Ronen Tenne and cousin David Wiseman
- **2018** — Opens Little Sesame's flagship fast-casual restaurant in downtown D.C.; DGS Delicatessen closes
- **2020** — During the pandemic, converts the restaurant into a community kitchen and launches Meals For The City
- **2021** — Launches grocery-ready packaged hummus in 14 Whole Foods Market locations
- **2024** — Expands into more than 1,000 new retail stores; launches Hummus for Kids line at Whole Foods
- **2025** — Closes $8.5M Series A led by InvestEco Capital; announces 23,000-sq-ft manufacturing facility in Maryland

## Achievements

- Co-founded and scaled Little Sesame from a basement pop-up to nearly 3,000 retail stores nationwide
- Closed an $8.5M Series A funding round in July 2025 (total funding ~$10.1M)
- Drove an estimated 46% of hummus category growth at Whole Foods Market
- Grew the brand more than 100% year over year
- Built a regenerative, organic chickpea supply chain sourced from Montana farmer Casey Bailey
- Set a goal to transition 10,000 acres to regenerative organic farming by 2027 in partnership with the USDA
- Launched a community kitchen and Meals For The City program during the pandemic

## Latest updates

- **2025-07** — Little Sesame closed an $8.5M Series A led by InvestEco Capital to fund a new 23,000-square-foot Maryland manufacturing facility with in-house high-pressure processing and a test kitchen.
- **2024-11** — Launched a Hummus for Kids line at Whole Foods Market, navigating lemon supply-chain challenges to enter a new segment.

## Links

- Website: https://eatlittlesesame.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-wiseman-7338262b
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/eatlittlesesame
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nickwisemandc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EatLittleSesame/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/nick-wiseman
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-10