Peckwater Brands, the UK’s virtual brand company, announced that it has secured £15M in its series A seed funding round from Stonegate Group at a valuation of £65M. Also, Stonegate has taken a minority stake in Peckwater, for an undisclosed sum.
Other investors, including SoftBank Investments (SBI) as well as Peckwater’s previous investors Fuel Ventures and Pembroke VCT, participated.
The announcement comes seven months after raising £3M in a Seed round in October 2021.
How will the funding be used?
The company will use the funds to develop its technology like machine learning-generated menus and operations performance improvements.
Peckwater Brands also plans to use its investment to accelerate its expansion, with its UK team planning to take the company from operating in 150+ sites to being the largest kitchen network in the UK.
Further, the company plans to level-up its international operations. It will involve the development of its US division, launched in Miami in early 2022.
Peckwater Brands also plans on expanding further into Europe, including France and Belgium, in the coming months.
As part of the investment, co-founder Sam Martin will now become Peckwater Brands’ CEO, with co-founder Leo Bradshaw, taking up the position of Executive Chair.
Builds delivery-only food brands
Founded by Leo Bradshaw, and Sam Martin in 2019, Peckwater Brands builds delivery-only food brands, driven by data-led customer insight, for restaurants up and down the country. The orders are cooked and delivered from existing kitchens alongside their day-to-day operations.
Peckwater Brands operates a mix of licensed brands, including:
- Chicken (Seoul Chikin, Flip the Bird, Wham Bam Wings, Katsu),
- Burgers (Dukes, Proper Tasty)
The company have also run shared brands with partners such as Unilever, Buzzfeed, and Heinz.
Bradshaw says, “Our innovative use of technology, combined with our expert knowledge of brand management and hospitality has transformed the way restaurants, bars – essentially any venue with a kitchen – approaches branding and customer reach.
He adds, “From enabling our partners to greatly improve their operations and monthly turnover, to transforming the way the hospitality sector considers franchises, we have demonstrated the true potential of virtual brands. This latest investment will enable us to build upon our existing efforts and accelerate our expansion.”
Martin adds, “We have always been incredibly ambitious with where we can take Peckwater Brands. And, given the rapid success we’ve seen in the UK, we’ve now set out sights on the international stage. Not only have we established a strong presence within the US and UAE, but we are set to make waves across Europe in the very near future – and our latest funding round success will certainly accelerate these plans.”
Suzanne Baker, Commercial Director of Stonegate Group, says, “Peckwater Brands’ partnership with some of our pubs has demonstrated the Company’s exciting potential. As such, we were delighted to collaborate with them, participate in their latest funding round and offer support to this promising team. We look forward to working closely with Peckwater Brands in the coming years to ensure the Company’s continued success.”
