Recipe box company Mindful Chef has secured £6 million investment from specialist consumer brand investor Piper.
Backed by tennis champion Andy Murray, Mindful Chef was founded by childhood school friends Rob Grieg-Gran, Giles Humphries and Myles Hopper in 2015. The Wandsworth-based delivery company aims to make healthy eating easy by creating healthy food boxes replete with recipes.
It’s also received celebrity endorsement for their nutrition-based approach, with Olympians Victoria Pendleton and Tom Daley, and singer Pixie Lott praising the startup’s approach.
Since its launch it has grown rapidly, with a 178 per cent in sales in the past year, delivering nearly two million meals to UK consumers, with annualised sales of £10m, employing 27 people.
The £6m cash boost will enable the business to grow its customer base in the UK alongside NPD, helping it to capitalise on the expanding recipe box market, which is forecast to double over the next 10 years.
Tim Lee, previously head of food and online strategy at Marks & Spencer, joined the business earlier this year as CEO.
Lee said: “With 2018 ending on a high, this major investment from Piper signifies the great confidence they have in our business, and will help support our established marketing programme as well as our exciting NPD pipeline. The global recipe box market is ripe for expansion and we believe that Mindful Chef’s proposition ticks all the boxes for people who want to live healthier lives.”
Rory Gibbs, Piper’s Investment director who lead the deal, added: “Mindful Chef is well placed to continue accelerating the growth of the recipe box market with its highly differentiated health focused positioning. We are backing a young, dynamic team who are passionate about making healthy eating easier for their customers. We are excited to be joining them and helping them to realise their ambitions.”
Mindful Chef was advised by Cavendish Corporate Finance on the investment, who recently provided advice on high profile deals including the sale of smoked salmon produce John Ross Jr. to PR Foods, and subscription wine retailer Naked Wines to Majestic.
Jonathan Buxton, partner and head of consumer and retail at Cavendish, said: “I am delighted to have advised the Mindful Chef team on this significant step towards achieving their ambitions. Mindful Chef is at the forefront of three important trends in the UK food sector: bypassing the old-economy grocers to engage with and deliver directly to consumers; cutting down waste by delivering only what is needed for each meal; and offering healthier, free-from and vegan options. As such, Mindful Chef is ideally placed to prosper with Piper’s additional funding and in-depth consumer expertise.”
