Free-from brand White Rabbit has pulled in a £1.1m cash injection.
The investment, made by Guinness Asset Management, would help the brand launch new products into multiple categories and boost its marketing presence with an above the line campaign, said White Rabbit.
The brand added it would also help grow across the out-of-home market and internationally into Ireland, Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
White Rabbit ”wanted to find an established partner that can allow us to maintain our dynamism and agility, whilst providing us with the resource and knowhow to turbocharge the next stage of our journey”, said co-founder Matteo Ferrari.
“They have been clear from the outset that they are coming in to support us and our vision for the brand, and that was a huge determining factor in our decision to team up with them. We can’t wait to get started.”
The brand said it expected sales to grow 70% over the coming year, driven by “a stream of NPD and distribution gains across retail and out of home”, including “a stretch into frozen pizza, listings in Co-op, a first-to-market chilled free-from calzone, expansion into chilled ready meals and a category first with frozen dough balls landing in Sainsbury’s just last month”.
Guinness Asset Management fund manager Malcolm King said the firm had been “impressed by the passion of Nick and Teo and their accomplishments in growing White Rabbit into a challenger brand with limited capital”.
Its “impressive retail penetration and growth rate are evidence of its growing cult-like customer following and strength of its premium offering in the plant based and gluten free Italian category”, he added.
Last year also saw the brand move into pasta with a free-from ravioli and raise more than £500k in a Seedrs campaign initially targeted at £300k.
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