Plant-based ‘meat’ startup secures £4.7m investment to propel expansion

A firm specialising in ‘hyper-realistic’ plant-based meat alternatives has raised £4.7m in a funding round.

Startup THIS has secured the multi-million pound funding in a round led by London-based investment firm Backed, with participation from Five Seasons Ventures, Idinvest Partners, Seedcamp and Manta Ray Ventures.

Specialising in meat alternatives made from peas and soy beans, THIS was founded by Andy Shovel and Pete Sharman - who founded burger chain Chosen Bun in 2016 - in order to capitalise on the growing popularity of plant-based products.

The company has so far raised a total of £5.6m, with this latest investment set to be used to boost manufacturing capabilities, the creation of a new research and development centre and make key hires.

Since its launch in 2019, THIS has seen a month-on-month compound growth rate of 35 per cent, and has secured distribution with retailers such as Waitrose, Holland & Barrett, Ocado, as well as being served in eateries Honest Burger and Chilango.

Andy Shovel, co-founder of THIS commented: “We’ve been able to leverage our strong first few months to obtain this fantastic investment from strong partners.

“It allows us to massively boost our manufacturing capacity and crucially – to create a formidable innovation engine within the company, by establishing an internal R&D centre.”

Alex Brunicki and Andre de Haes, partners at Backed commented: “Food sustainability is a topic we care a great deal about at Backed and is a major tailwind to be investing into.

“Andy and Pete have created a number of best-in-class products, nurtured a passionate community of customers and executed on an ambitious distribution strategy in lightning quick time. We are thrilled to be backing the team at THIS.”

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