London-based Peckwater Brands is one of the fastest-growing virtual brands companies in the UK. In a recent development, it announced that it has secured £3 million in seed funding in a round led by Fuel Ventures along with participation from Pembroke VCT.
Expansion plans
This investment comes at a time when Peckwater Brands prepares for the next stage of growth after a boom in sales during the Covid-19 pandemic. Already, the company has witnessed 20 percent month-on-month growth since last year. It is on track to surpass £5 million in sales in 2021 with over 50 partners in the UK.
It plans to use the investment to hire for additional roles across its sales, operations, and brand development functions as it continues to disrupt the food-for-now and food delivery space. Also, it will expand its operations into the US and plans to set up a base in Australia and New Zealand.
Leo Bradshaw, co-founder and CEO, said: “The hospitality industry is ripe for disruption — Peckwater Brands combines great food with technology to revolutionise our partners’ food delivery offer. Our brands get us through the door, but what we gain is exclusive access to a small business owner — our technology then sits at the heart of their business, and from there we can service all their future needs, from waste management to working capital.
Sam Martin, co-founder and COO, said: “Our aim is to be bigger than Domino’s, but if we’ve done our jobs right you’ll never have heard of us. We don’t believe that dark kitchens are the future of the food industry. The virtual brand model is superior in all the ways that matter: lower investment for partners, better for local high-streets and communities, and easier to scale.”
Mark Pearson, managing partner at Fuel Ventures, said: “We’ve seen huge growth in the food delivery market, and are excited by Peckwater’s approach which brings technology and scalability to the space. We’re pleased to be backing a strong management team that shares our level of ambition.”
Andrew Wolfson, CEO of Pembroke Investment Managers, said: “We feel lucky to have had the opportunity to back Leo and Sam. Their highly complementary skill set combines both data and operations experience. These skill sets have enabled them to develop a business that provides a service for restaurant owners to benefit from the shift in consumer behaviour to dining at home more frequently.”
Owns a mix of brands
Peckwater Brands founded by Leo Bradshaw and Sam Martin builds data-driven, delivery-only food brands for restaurants up and down the country. The orders are cooked and delivered from existing kitchens alongside their day-to-day operations. Previously, the team worked for companies including UberEats, Amazon, Karma Kitchen (a dark kitchen operator), Deliveroo, and Yo Sushi!.
Currently, Peckwater Brands mix of owned and licensed brands spanning several categories including chicken (Seoul Chikin, Flip the Bird, Wham Bam Wings, Katsu), burgers (Dukes, Proper Tasty) and a shared brand with Unilever (a vegan offer called Ding Dog, which uses Unilever’s ‘Vegetarian Butcher’ product range). Other brands include Chicken Sees A Salad and Say Queso. All these brands are available to restaurants in the UK and the US, and are sold on delivery platforms including Deliveroo, UberEats and Just Eat.
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