London-based Clean Kitchen Club bags €2.3M to bring plant-based food to the mainstream

London-based Clean Kitchen Club, a plant-based restaurant chain, announced on Friday, July 29, that it has raised £2M (approximately €2.38M) in a fresh round of funding.

The company says it started out selling burgers from a small delivery kitchen and claims to have grown into one of London’s popular plant-based restaurant chains in less than two years. Prior to this round, Clean Kitchen Club raised its Seed round of £1.4M in November 2021.

The current round saw investment from former McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook, businesswoman and influencer Grace Beverley, former Quorn chairman Clive Sharpe, and founder of CleanCO, Spencer Matthews.

Crowdfunding campaign

Clean Kitchen Club previously announced plans to open 40 new locations throughout the UK, including in Manchester and Brighton. The company’s future projects include the expansion of its catering company, which has already provided food for events like the London Fashion Week, and the introduction of a new line of ready meals into supermarket chains.

Clean Kitchen Club is now inviting its expanding community to invest in a plant-based firm for the first time in the company’s history. According to FOOD Manufacture, £2M has already been contributed to the pre-registration for the week-long crowdfund, which begins on August 8.

Co-founder of Clean Kitchen Club, Verity Bowditch, told FOOD Manufacture, “The desire amongst the UK’s leading entrepreneurs, as well as fans of the brand, to invest in our company validates our determination to offer the public great tasting, sustainable protein alternatives. As more and more people start to realise the need to mitigate the impact that meat production is having on the environment, so they are demanding a fresh, dynamic solution that fits seamlessly into their lifestyle. We provide exactly that.”

About Clean Kitchen Club

Founded in 2020 by Mikey Pearce and later joined by co-founder Verity Bowditch, the goal of Clean Kitchen is to make plant-based cuisine more widely consumed. The company says, “by making it easier and more delicious than ever to eat less meat and more sustainably, we hope to change the way food is produced in the future.”

Without sacrificing flavour, the company claims to convert popular non-vegan foods to a 100 per cent plant-based diet. The idea behind Clean Kitchen is to provide better options that can be enjoyed both at home and out, with all-day food and drink options for those who are health-conscious and planet conscious.

Born in the pandemic, Clean Kitchen has spread through London. The company says it will have five eat-in ‘clubs’ in 2022 and grow its catering business.