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Allplants, the plant-based meal delivery service based in the UK, has raised £38 million (US$52 million) in a record-breaking Series B round. The round, led by London tech VC Draper Esprit, marks the largest-ever Series B for a plant-based food company in Europe.
London-headquartered vegan meal startup Allplants has secured a record $52 million in its Series B round of funding. The round was led by Draper Esprit, which lists Seedrs and Trustpilot among its tech portfolio, and also saw participation from The Craftory, TriplePoint Capital and Felix Capital, among others. Notable angel investors include English football stars Chris Smalling and Kieran Gibbs, and Cassandra Stavrou, founder of British snack brand Proper Snacks.
Allplants’ Series B, the startup’s third financing round to date, represents the largest-ever of its kind for a plant-based food business in Europe.
Expanding production by 6-fold
Proceeds from the round will help Allplants expand its production capacity to meet unprecedented consumer demand. Since its launch in 2017, the company has experienced a doubling in revenues every year—and sales have only increased since the pandemic, with more consumers staying at home and keen to eat more sustainable, healthy foods.
Allplants says it plans to increase the size of its 100% renewable energy powered North London plant-based kitchen by sixfold, as well as build new scalable capacity to distribute through non-DTC channels. The startup’s flash-frozen vegan meals are currently made 24-hours a day by 140 chefs, but it plans to grow the team and hire more culinary professionals as well as staff across operations, R&D, and marketing.
With a larger team, the company wants to increase the range and variety of its plant-based meals, to better cater to the “rapidly growing plant-curious or flexitarian consumer market”, which makes up around two-thirds of the brand’s customer base. Allplants’ current range includes breakfast, lunch, snack, treat and dinner offerings.
According to a recent Euromonitor survey, around 42% of shoppers around the world are now flexitarians. In the UK, around a quarter of the population say they have cut back on their meat and dairy intake ever since Covid-19 hit.
Global expansion on the horizon
Already one of UK’s most well-known plant-based companies, Allplants has signalled that entering international markets won’t be far off the horizon.
“In the five years that we have been cooking, we’ve seen the demand for plant-based food explode,” said CEO Jonathan Petrides, who co-founded the vegan chef-to-customer service with his brother Alex. “We’ve got a ton of exciting plans to bring the movement to even more people’s kitchens, and this investment will allow us to do just that.”
“We can now imagine, create and serve up many more delicious recipes and products, to ultimately accelerate the transformative impact that plant-based living will have on the future of our planet,” Petrides added.
Rising popularity of vegan meal deliveries
Allplants’ funding news comes as plant-based meal delivery services become ever more popular with mainstream consumers.
Nicola McClafferty, partner at lead investor Draper Esprit, commented that the company is “positioned at the intersection of some of the fastest-growing areas in food consumption today: high quality, plant-based meals that deliver on taste, sustainability and nutrition in an incredibly convenient way for consumers.”
Other platforms that offer similar services, such as fellow UK startup Planty, have also attracted investors. The company secured €770,000 in a new round this month, which will go towards supporting its European expansion and launching new frozen plant-based ranges, including breakfasts and desserts.
Outside of the UK, vegan meal players include San Francisco’s Thistle and Sydney-based Flave.
All images courtesy of Allplants.
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