Swiftly becoming one of the leading players in the alt-protein market, Heura has just scored €20 million as football and NBA stars back the Barcelona-based team. The startup will now accelerate its growth plan and ambitions to bring its ‘good rebel’ alt-protein socio-cultural movement to international markets.
The food industry is undergoing a moment of profound change, and leading it is a movement to animal-free alternative protein sources. It’s a dietary transition coming to define a generation and promises to make the planet, people and animals all happier and healthier.
One name that has sprung up in this fastly developing market is Heura. Now available across Europe, the food tech startup has developed a nutritious and delicious protein alternative and created a mass community movement based on disrupting the status quo for good. Not only is this ‘good rebel’ socio-cultural movement backed by people who like the taste of Heura’s products, but it is actively supported by some top athletes – giving credence to the quality of the food and reflecting that alt-protein packs just as much of a nutrient punch as traditional protein sources.
New funding served up
Today, Heura have announced a new €20 million funding round including the issuance of convertible notes that lead to equity in what is anticipated to be an immense Series B funding round in 2023 for the food tech space.
The round included contributions from NBA star Ricky Rubio, football players Sergio Busquets and Sergi Roberto, comedian David Broncano, as well as Unovis Asset Management – reflecting strong support for this food transformation and ushering in a new era of protein perceptions.
It tops up Heura’s crowdfunding campaign earlier this year when the startup picked up over €4 million in just 12 hours through its Equity for Good Rebels campaign which saw more than 5,000 people from across the world join together for a common cause. Breaking traditional investor norms, approximately half of the participants were between the ages of 18 – 35 years old, and 42% identified as women.
It’s been a big year for Heura, with the company nearly doubling its H1 2022 turnover. Mid-year, it had reached €14.7 million in turnover, up from €7.6 million during this period last year. Cofounder and CEO Marc Coloma also spoke at the EU-Startups Summit in May, giving our attendees insights into disrupting an industry at scale.
Speaking on the funding Marc Coloma said: “Having mission-driven investors on board who dare to take bold action to accelerate the plant-based protein transition gives us the resources to continue driving category growth across Europe. We have a clear vision, and this new funding will help us transition from a successful Spanish plant-based company to a net-positive food-tech startup that’s leading the protein transition across Europe. This growth path is designed to bring us into 2023 in a position to close the largest Series B rounds in the industry, and usher in a future that’s better for the people, planet and animals.”
Accelerating protein transition
Founded by activists Marc Coloma and Bernat Añaños in April 2017, the startup has the vision to create solutions that make the current food system obsolete and accelerate the transition to a world in which animals are out of the protein production equation.
Reflecting Mediterranean culinary heritage, the company uses quintessentially Mediterranean ingredients to create plant-based products, namely extra virgin olive oil with a clean label, high nutritional values and flavour.
Heura is already the leader in the Spanish market, with 80% of plant-based category growth credited to Heura sales, and the company is slated to end the year with 30% market share, as it expands its vision across Europe. The plant-based market is expected to hit over €160 billion by 2030, with reports estimating that about 60% of protein won’t come from animals by 2040 – giving Heura incredible power to define this new generation of culinary habits.
It’s not just the market potential that drives Heura though. Founded with social activism at its core, the startup also properties the impact it can have on environmental and animal welfare as well as helping create a carbon-neutral society and economy.
The first half of the year alone, when compared to traditional proteins, Heura estimates it has saved approximately 55.9 million litres of water used and 3.6 million kg of CO2, as well as sparing 509,000 chickens, pigs and cows’ lives.
This new funding boost will be used by the food tech innovators to position themselves as the European plant-based leader by 2027. It will be expanding its animal ‘meat successors’ in current countries, like France, Italy and the UK, and new European regions, including Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and more. Heura is also working on launching new tech and innovations in new segments, filing its first patents in November 2022, with the focus on delivering new foods in 2023 that are nature-positive, nutrient-dense and achieve culinary excellence.
