Veganuary co-founder launches plant-based investment fund: ‘The quality, availability and price of vegan products still needs work’

Veg Capital is a specialist private venture fund that will provide Angel, Seed and Series A funding typically ranging from £50,000 to £250,000 to early-stage businesses in the plant-based space.

Setting itself apart from traditional investment firms, the fund plans to donate all profits to UK and European animal protection charities.

Without providing specifics, Veganuary co-founder and Veg Capital managing director Matthew Glover told FoodNavigator that Veg Capital is financially backed by ‘a number of mission-aligned philanthropic investors’.

To be eligible, operators must meet the fund’s criteria. These, Glover said, are associated with the fund’s key focus: to help drive down the number of animal products in the food system.

Specifically, the fund plans to invest in four key areas: innovative forms of production with protectable intellectual property; plant-based replacements for meat, dairy, eggs, or seafood; advanced fermentation and tissue engineering to produce animal products from the cellular level; and distribution and systems that increase access to vegan products.

“We’re mostly going to be investing in the UK and Europe, but will consider interesting opportunities in emerging markets,” ​the MD continued.

Veg Capital: The time is ripe for plant-based investment​

Interest in plant-based eating is certainly on the rise, as shown by the progressively popular Veganuary – which this year, saw its highest rate of subscribers yet.

In the UK, one-third of consumers have either reduced their meat intake, or removed it from their diet completely, which is contributing to demand for animal-free products.

In the month of January alone, more than 1,000 new plant-based products and menu times were launched in the UK. According to Veg Nation, global growth in demand has continued in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“According to data commissioned by SPINS in the US, plant-based food sales spiked 90% (compared to last year) at the peak of panic buying – 25% higher than total food sales,” ​noted the fund.

In the four weeks following this period, plant-based food sales grew 27%, which is 35% faster than total retail food, Veg Capital continued.

Despite growing interest, Glover told FoodNavigator the market is far from saturated. “As the co-founder of Veganuary, I’ve learnt a huge amount about the movement as a whole.​

“The plant-based food space is still relatively small, but there’s clearly huge opportunity to disrupt traditional animal-based food sectors. One thing that became clear from my time working on Veganuary was that the quality, availability and price of vegan products still needed work.​

“By investing in innovative new products, I hope we can help lower the bar for people interested in adopting a more plant-based diet.” ​

Glover will remain a trustee at Veganuary, but stressed he will have no operational involvement on a day-to-day basis. “My trustee work at Veganuary and my role at Veg Capital will be kept totally separate.”​