Maven leads £2.1 million investment in online food and drink marketplace FodaBox

Maven Capital Partners (Maven), one of the UK’s most active investors in growing businesses, has announced that it has led a £2.1 million investment in FodaBox (formerly BoroughBox), a provider of logistical services to over 1,400 independent food and drink brands.

The investment comprises £1.5m from Maven’s VCTs alongside £600,000 from angel investors. This will enable the business to expand its operations, open a third warehouse, develop its software and analytical tools further and launch its own private-label products.

London – and Welwyn Garden City – based FodaBox provides consolidated digital and physical infrastructure that offers independent food and drink producers a single partner for retail, wholesale distribution, fulfilment, third-party logistics services and export.

FodaBox’s comprehensive suite of services help high-quality artisan producers overcome the challenges of establishing a reliable and integrated supply chain in a market weighted in favour of mass suppliers. FodaBox enables these brands to reach a wider market, connecting them to a growing customer base of over 100,000 registered users.

Globally, the pandemic has accelerated the shift toward e-commerce, digital, and in-home activities. Most commentators believe these newly formed habitual behaviours will last long after the lifting of restrictions, maintaining the positive market dynamics for online food and beverage suppliers. Indeed, the sector is now the largest online Consumer Packaged Goods segment, overtaking health and beauty (Source: NielsenIQ).

Melanie Goward, partner at Maven, said, “FodaBox’s range of services drive increased efficiency and profitability in a sector for which there is increasing need. Its model enables smaller producers to achieve economies of scale and compete in a market which is seeing a seismic shift in consumer behaviour and which is presenting significant growth opportunities.

“The management team, led by Andrew Lawson, have proven their ability both to scale the business rapidly during the pandemic and to add to those sales as the economy has started to return to normal. We see the potential for FodaBox to achieve a market-leading position in the independent food and drink sector and look forward to supporting the business with its growth ambitions.”

Andrew Lawson, CEO at FodaBox, said, “Having spent the first few years of our life establishing sales channels and services infrastructure for independent producers/brands, we’re now excited about working with a partner like Maven to continue scaling the business and delivering our mission of helping the challenger brands of today become the mainstream brands of tomorrow. There’s been a step-change in consumer priorities when it comes to the food and drink they eat, ranging from the packaging in which it arrives, through to ethics within the supply chain. The independent sector is always the first to answer questions, innovate and solve these issues, and we’re incredibly proud to support them from day one.”

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