MunchFit, healthy food provider to luxury gym Equinox and elite studio Barry’s Bootcamp has closed £1.2m through a recent crowdfunding campaign via Crowdcube, after attracting substantial investor interest.

Burleighs Gin, a Leicestershire gin distiller business has secured a £250,000 investment to scale-up its operations and create new jobs.

The compnay has secured the finance from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund (MEIF), provided by The FSE Group and backed by the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The funding package will enable Burleighs Gin, based at Bawden Lodge Farm, Loughborough, to expand its operations. Five full-time jobs within its sales and operational functions will be created as the brand focuses on developing its premium brand gin range with two new products in the pipeline.

Hoxton Farms has raised £2.7 million seed funding to cultivate animal fat and solve an urgent issue for the rapidly growing meat alternatives market.

Its approach delivers the missing ingredient necessary to make meat alternatives delicious, realistic and versatile: fat.  For decades, the food industry has faced the challenge of finding effective, low-cost and sustainable replacements for traditional animal fat, the most important sensory ingredient in meat. Fat defines how meat looks, cooks, and tastes – and it does this in a way that cannot be replicated by plant oils currently used in meat alternatives. 

A Stamford based chocolatier business has secured a £250,000 MEIF loan to help meet increasing demand for its products from the UK and overseas. This is alongside boosting its marketing campaigns to drive sales in 2021.

Jack & Bry, a producer of plant-based meat alternatives, has secured £1.25 million in seed funding.  The round was led by SFC Capital, with other backers including KM Capital, Rubix Ventures, and a number of high net worth private investors. The investment comes at a time of rapid growth for Jack & Bry, and follows the recent appointment of FMCG industry veterans including former Quorn chairman Clive Sharpe and Singha Europe MD David Flower to the management team. The funding will support further product innovation as the jackfruit pioneer targets more big-name customer acquisitions. AI to help develop more jackfruit products that closely mimic the texture of meat using its proprietary manufacturing process.

Sproud, the Swedish maker of a range of plant-based milks has raised £4.8M from growth capital investor, VGC Partners. 

The investment will be used to grow Sproud’s team, accelerate the brand’’s distribution and brand building activities in the company’s core markets - including the UK, US and Canada  - and for further development of its plant-based and 100% vegan product offering. 

British premium low-alcohol spirits startup, CleanCo, has secured £7 million funding as investors and consumers reveal an insatiable thirst for hangover-free drinking. The latest investment takes the total now raised by the business to £9.1 million.

Pembroke VCT, the venture capital trust focused on building the consumer brands of tomorrow, has successfully exited its investment in Pasta Evangelists, which delivers restaurant-quality pasta direct to customers by post. The innovative meal kit business has agreed a deal whereby Italian firm, Barilla Group, will acquire a majority stake. The value of the deal is undisclosed.  

Weezy, the UK’s leading on-demand superfast supermarket that delivers groceries in only 15 minutes, has raised $20 million in Series A funding to expand its grocery delivery service across London and the broader UK. The new investment was led by New York-based venture capital fund Left Lane Capital. Also participating are UK-based fund DN Capital, earlier investors Heartcore Capital and angel investors, notably Chris Muhr, the Groupon founder. The funding will help expand the company’s London-based team by 50 employees over the next four months, in addition to extra fulfilment centre staff. 

Gusto, a drink company which funded successfully via Crowdcube, has launched two new functional drinks: Super DC Blood Orange and Super DC Blackcurrant & Elderberry.  

BGF has made a further substantial investment in the expansion of Yorkshire-headquartered bakery business, Cooplands, as the 135-year-old business looks ahead to its next chapter of growth. 

Three years after BGF’s initial £8.5m investment, the business has grown to more than 165 stores, 12 cafes and 36 sandwich vans. Cooplands has opened seven new stores since March 2020 and plans to roll-out an additional 30 stores a year in locations such as South Yorkshire, as well as expanding further in the current geographical footprint. 

Two former Newcastle University students who developed a unique range of alcoholic tea drinks have raised £1.4m from investors to help them further expand their business.  NOVELTEA has already proved popular with customers in the UK, Germany and also China. The funding will allow founders Vincent Efferoth and Lukas Passia to target new overseas markets, expand their product range and create 20 new jobs at the company’s base in Newcastle.