Heura raises €4M in 12 hours in crowdfunding campaign
Left to right: Bernat Ananos and Marc Coloma, Heura co-founders. Image credit: Heura
Plant-based meat alternative brand Heura has raised more than €4 million in its second Equity for Good Rebels crowdfunding campaign in just 12 hours.
Raised through the Crowdcube funding platform, the Barcelona-based brand initially set out to attract €1 million in investments. This target was reached in just 30 minutes.
Heura says more than 4,500 investors from countries including the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland were involved. The average investment was €925.
By getting involved with the campaign, investors are able to share in the success of the company. Those involved can make money in the long term either by selling their shares on the Crowdcube secondary marketplace, or if Heura floats on the stock market in the future.
Interestingly, the company pointed out around half of all investors were between the ages of 18 and 35 and 42% were women. It says this “flies in the face of the status quo”, and underscores Gen Z and Millennials’ “commitment to building a better world”.
This echoes the results of Heura’s first crowdfunding campaign. Brand Co-Founder Marc Coloma told Food Matters Live in a recent interview that these were “young women with a real desire to be the change”.
He also added that Heura had a wide-ranging appeal. “With our aim to renew traditions and offer a holistic approach to plant-based meat consumption, we welcome flexitarians as regular consumers,” he said.
“We want to empower people to vote for a more sustainable food system and eat their favourite recipes without it having a toll on the environment. As change makers, we attract and retain consumers that do not fall into stereotypes.”
On this second round, Coloma said: “The response to the Equity for Good Rebels crowdfunding campaign is a proof point that as a global community, we can and will uproot the failing food system.
“We will leverage this milestone to further increase availability to healthy, plant-based foods that better align with the values and needs of today’s society.”
In the 12 months since its last crowdfunding exercise, Heura has increased its worldwide POS by 333%. It has also attracted funding from a slew of large investors, including former Manchester United footballer Chris Smalling.
Funds this time around will be reinvested into the company, and used to build the Heura Lab 2.0, generate cutting-edge low footprint technologies, and develop and distribute plant-based foods internationally, the company says.
Additionally, over the course of 2022, Heura says it plans to develop up to 10 new products.
