£250,000 on a plate for ready meal start-up
COOKOO, a marketplace for independent cooks delivering fresh meals to Londoners, has won a total of £250,000 in investments from venture capitalists to boost expansion in a crowded market.
The company was launched in January this year by Oxford University graduates Joanne Thompson and Rachel Swindenbank, who previously worked together at management consultancy Bain & Co. It is one of a number of healthy food delivery start-ups in the UK, including Pronto, which also sells ready meals, and Gousto and Hello Fresh, which sell ingredients.
Last week, Mindful Chef, a healthy recipe box company that counts David and Victoria Beckham and members of the England Rugby team among its customers, said it was seeking to raise £300,000 on equity crowdfunding platform Seedrs.
Though research from venture capital analysis firm CB Insights found the amount of money invested in food delivery start-ups fell rapidly in the first quarter of 2016, Swindenbank said: ‘I feel like the huge increase in competition and the amount of people offering this service is a sign that there’s a real gap in the market.
‘For me, it’s a comfort that customers do want more than what’s available. So many people are too busy to cook for themselves. We feel that what we do is connect people who love cooking to people who love to eat in a very personalised way, so you know who your cook is. Our cooks are our heroes.’
Swindenbank said the business, which details the chefs and their individual dishes on its website, is using the funding to increase its sixperson team, the number of cooks and consumer awareness.
Food delivery firms raised £416million in the first quarter of 2016, down from £1.4billion in the final quarter of last year.