DTC plant-based baby food brand Mamamade has ceased trading after losing a battle with soaring costs and lower demand as families tightened spending in the cost-of-living crisis.
The collapse leaves hundreds of crowd investors out of pocket following a January 2022 Seedrs campaign that raised £820k from 304 investors and valued the business at £5.5m.
In recent months, Mamamade faced a number of challenges fuelled by inflationary pressures, the cost-of-living crisis and “a decimation” of the fundraising market, which “severely affected” a planned raise set to close at the end of the first quarter of 2023, founder Sophie Baron told The Grocer.
“Despite our significant efforts to raise vital funding, we reached the painful conclusion that it was in the best interest of all parties involved for us to enter the company into voluntary liquidation,” Baron said.
Business recovery specialist Begbies Traynor was appointed as liquidator on 14 April 2023.
Baron founded Mamamade in 2020, building a community of more than 90,000 parents for her 45-strong range of frozen plant-based meals for babies, with product manufactured in-house at a new, dedicated allergen-free factory.
It sold more than one-million meals and generated annual revenues of £1.4m.
“Along with my husband and co-founder Ian, we are really proud of what we achieved in such a short period of time, and the feedback from our community was that Mamamade was a crucial part of their support system, alleviating the mental load and providing much-needed relief,” Baron added.
“We’re heartbroken not to be able to carry on building on our purpose.”
Alongside the crowd, Mamamade was backed by angel investors and entrepreneurs, including founders and executives from Allplants, Made.com, Heals, Design my Night, Bulb and Xexec.
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