Dessert brand Pleesecakes has beaten a £300k crowdfunding target as it readies a mass retail launch of its Freezecakes innovation.
The round on Seedrs values the business launched by former painter-and-decorator Joe Moruzzi in 2017 at £6.2m.
It has so far raised in excess of £340k from more than 260 investors, with the campaign scheduled to run for a further 17 days.
Moruzzi started baking cheesecakes for family and friends in 2016, posting photos of his creations on Instagram.
A post on the social media platform by celebrity fitness coach Joe Wicks in 2017 saw Pleesecakes gain 15,000 followers within 24 hours, inspiring Moruzzi to give up his job to focus full-time on the business.
It now boasts a social media community of more than two-million followers across Tiktok and Instagram, generating sales of £1m in 2021.
Pleesecakes recently expanded its DTC and B2B offer into retail and foodservice, working with Selfridges, Deliveroo, Amazon Fresh, Ocado and Chicken Slims, and widened the range into mini cheesecakes, Freezecakes, which it claims is the world’s first frozen cheesecake in a pint tub, and cheesecake filled truffles, Chuffles.
The business is in talks with major national retailers ahead of a planned full retail launch Freezecakes next year.
“With our new Freezecake products we now have a product that truly works in mass retail and want to follow in the footsteps of brands like Little Moons who have shown how ripe the category is for disruption,” Moruzzi said.
He added the business would build on the early foundations laid in retail to scale the brand nationally, followed by international expansion in the EU, UAE and the US.
Fmcg brands have also approached the business to bake unique products for publicity stunts, including a Weetabix cheesecake with a core of Heinz baked beans, and an order from McVitie’s to make a cheesecake using its biscuits for the Queen.
“Off the back of our social media posts, we were approached by all retailers, which is truly incredible, so have been gearing up manufacturing capabilities ready for a launch,” Moruzzi said.
“We haven’t yet finalised which retailer we are looking to launch with or final range, but we will be launching with Freezecakes. This is not cheesecake-flavoured ice cream; this is very own cheesecake recipe that had been developed for the frozen dessert category and we’re so excited for more people to try them.”
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