French vegan cheesemaker Jay & Joy is seeking to raise at least €200k (£172k) from the crowd to top up a €1.3m funding round, as it burns cash to fuel rapid expansion.
The premium plant-based brand hit 35.8% sales growth in the first half of 2026, driven by distribution gains in France and a growing foothold in the Netherlands, Germany, and the UK.
The gains represented an acceleration from the 19.6% growth achieved in 2025 when Jay & Joy bought out its competitor Les Nouveaux Affineurs. The company took €2.2m in revenue that year.
Jay & Joy’s latest raise follows a €2m round completed in March 2026. The company has raised over €5m since 2023, and the latest raise will go towards growing its retail sales team, product development, and increasing its production capacity.
The company launched into the UK in September 2025 with an organic camembert alternative, and has since launched plant-based goats cheese, feta and blue cheese, made by fermenting a nut or bean base in a process inspired by traditional French cheesemaking techniques.
CEO César Augier told The Grocer that expansion into mainstream UK retailers would be a “key growth driver” for his business. Currently, Jay & Joy’s products are mostly stocked in organic shops in the UK, despite a presence in major French supermarkets including Monoprix, Intermarché, Carrefour and Leclerc.
“The UK market is very receptive to high-quality, artisanal plant-based products,” Augier said.
“We find that there are fewer psychological barriers to plant-based cheese in the UK than in France, where cheese is deeply rooted in the culture. We turned this into an advantage by learning from traditional French cheesemakers and applying their know-how to plant-based milk. This is a strong selling point for us abroad, including in the UK.”
UK sales currently make up less than 5% of the total business, compared with the Netherlands’ 12% and Germany’s 15%, but UK sales will “reach similar levels” within the next 18 months, according to Augier.
However, the business has been burning cash quickly to fuel its expansion, and has made an increasing loss for the past three years. Last year’s losses of €2.1m almost equalled the business’ €2.2m turnover.
“Over the past couple of years, we were in a growth focused-phase,” said Augier. “That included integrating Les Nouveaux Affineurs, a competitor we acquired in Q1 2025. We are now reaching critical mass, and our objective is to become EBITDA positive in 2027.”
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