Better Nature raises £700k to fuel growth in 2023

22-Nov-2022 - Last updated on 22-Nov-2022 at 14:48 GMT

The company has funding to support its next stage of expansion

Plant-based brand, Better Nature, has secured a £700k Seed Plus round to fuel retail growth for its Tempeh range in the UK and Europe.

The brand, which was founded in 2019, specialises in tempeh, a 100% natural cultured plant-based food.

The company said that 67 existing investors, including Seedrs investors, participated in the round plus two new backers including The Global Entrepreneurship Centre (GEC) which scales innovative, sustainable, businesses with transformative growth potential.

The company raised £1.6m from a Seed round in March 2021. It has also worked with The Proveg Incubator, the Berlin based alternative investment vehicle.

Funding

The new funding will support the brand’s new listing with Holland & Barrett, as well as building on existing listings with Selfridges, Mindful Chef, Gopuff, and Allplants.

The funding will also be used to drive retail growth in Europe, as the brand launches into REWE (Germany’s second largest supermarket) in early 2023. This follows its recent launch into MIGROS, Switzerland’s largest supermarket chain.

The company said that NPD and innovation will also be a priority and it has plans to launch new lines in 2023 that tap into the growing demand for convenience in the all-natural plant based category.

Transformative

It also plans to focus on marketing to increase consumer awareness and understanding of tempeh as a nutritious, versatile plant based protein.

“This raise marks the start of a transformative stage for the brand as we scale up our distribution, marketing and NPD in a bid to take tempeh mainstream as we head into 2023,” said Better Nature’s Co-Founder and CEO, Christopher Kong.

“Within the plant-based category right now, there is a real opportunity for brands who can deliver on health, taste, and convenience, and as a business we have a strong range of products which are perfectly placed to capitalise on this. Coupled with growing consumer demand for natural plant-based food, the market opportunity for tempeh is significant. At Better Nature, we want to be Europe’s go-to tempeh brand and this round will certainly help us on our journey to achieve that goal.”

The company said it would be looking at Series A funding next year.