Butternut Box raises £280m in new fundraising round

Butternut Box, the UK-based fresh dog food company, has announced it has raised £280m in its latest fundraising round from new investor General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm.

Existing investor L Catterton, a global consumer-focused investment firm, also participated in the round, helping to further the brand’s presence in Europe and continue its mission to deliver “fresh”, “tasty”, and “healthy” meals to dogs around the world.

The transaction’s closing is subject to customary regulatory conditions, but is expected to occur in Q4 2023.
Butternut Box is Europe’s fresh dog food brand, feeding dogs in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and most recently Poland following its April 2023 acquisition of PsiBufet, one of the fresh dog food companies in Central and Eastern Europe.

Since its inception in 2016, Butternut Box has grown rapidly, raising over £100m to date including investments from L Catterton, White Star Capital, Five Seasons Ventures, Passion Capital, Literacy Capital, Claret Capital, and HSBC.

According to Butternut Box, the latest investment will be used to build on this momentum.

It also plans to use this funding to accelerate the company’s leadership position across the Fresh category in the pet food space through further European expansion, including the development of a new European manufacturing facility.

The planned facility will be the second of its kind for Butternut Box after Rudie’s Kitchen, a fully integrated manufacturing and fulfilment facility that opened in March 2021, giving the company complete visibility and control over its emissions production.

This further underlines the company’s commitment to creating a positive impact across all areas of its business, as evidenced by receiving B Corp accreditation in September 2022.

Butternut Box was advised by Harris Williams and Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor and Freshfields served as legal advisor to General Atlantic. PwC served as financial advisor and Latham and Watkins served as legal advisor to L Catterton.

Kevin Glynn, co-founder of Butternut Box, said: “We are delighted to now partner with General Atlantic, who is an incredible investor and shares our long-term vision of developing the category of Fresh pet food across Europe.

“It is also fantastic to receive further support from our long-standing partner, L Catterton who we’ve been proud to work with for several years now and who also believes in the power of Fresh and that we are only really at the starting line. Most notably we are incredibly excited by what this investment will unlock for our customers (dogs and humans) in the years to come as we are nothing without them.”

David Nolan, co-founder of Butternut Box, added: “We’re thrilled about the ways in which this investment will allow us to continue to live out our mission. Everyone here is driven by a uniting purpose to deliver health and happiness to all dogs, everywhere. This investment will help us take the next leap forward in doing just that.”