A husband-and-wife team who started a vegan goods delivery business after struggling to find plant-based products on the high street have secured £3.5 million backing from financiers.
The funding is expected to help TheVeganKind business launched by Scott and Karris McCulloch to capitalise on a boom in demand for vegan products, which it has helped fuel.
The investment round led by London-based Literacy Capital provides recognition of how much the McCullochs have achieved since they went into business in 2013.
The couple initially ran the business from their two-bedroom flat in Glasgow . It started off by providing subscribers with a monthly delivery of boxes containing vegan goods ranging from foods to beauty products.
The company launched an online supermarket in 2016. This stocks chilled foods which are available for next day delivery.
Mr McCulloch said the two operations now send out around 25,000 orders every month. The business has customers across the UK and overseas.
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He said the company has benefited from the growing popularity of veganism in the UK. However, while TheVeganKind is committed to promoting veganism, Mr McCulloch thinks its success has also been based on its policy of trying to make it easy for as many people as possible to try plant-based products.
“We don’t want to say you have to be totally vegan to shop at TVK,” said Mr McCulloch. “We want to be open and inclusive.”
The company stocks around 6,000 products.
Lockdowns have boosted demand but the business was already on a strong growth path. It employs 70 people.
Last year it moved into a large warehouse facility in Rutherglen on the outskirts of Glasgow.
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The £3.5m funding is expected to help the business scale up significantly. It will support investment in areas such as staffing, infrastructure and marketing.
Richard Pindar, chief investment officer of Literacy Capital, said it was excited to have the opportunity to work with TheVeganKind. He said the tailwinds in the sector are really encouraging.
Literacy Capital’s portfolio includes the Butternut Box dog food delivery business.
TheVeganKind was advised by PwC.
Jason Cohen of the advisory firm’s Raise | Ventures team said: “TheVeganKind is an inspirational Scottish success story, one of true entrepreneurship”.
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