Recipe kit brand SimplyCook has secured a further £2.3m in equity funding from previous backer Octopus Investments to fund its ambitious growth plans.
Octopus, which last year acquired a minority stake in the meal supplier for £4.5m, purchased an additional three million shares in a move suggesting its continued support of the fast-growing brand.
The latest cash boost takes the total raised by SimplyCook since launching in 2014 to £9m, including a £2m round led by Maxfield Capital in 2017 and a successful £600k crowdfunding campaign in 2016.
SimplyCook founder Oli Ashness described the funding as a “top up” to be used to accelerate growth, including expansion into retail stores following the launch of four recipe kits into Tesco Express last November.
The DTC brand, delivering recipe kits containing flavourings and spices, ventured into retail in 2018 with Sainsbury’s – a listing now abandoned – and is available in Waitrose, Asda and Co-op.
Further expansion within the wider Tesco estate is scheduled for the beginning of February.
Having delivered over 20 million meals, SimplyCook has become one of the fastest-growing recipe kit brands, doubling in size every year.
It now expects revenues of £15m for 2020 as monthly customer numbers are due to exceed 150,000.
Alongside the investment, SimplyCook appointed Octopus investment manager Uthishtan Ranjan to its board, replacing previous Octopus representative Ian Potter.
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