Plant-based Fast Food Chain Raises Over £2M And Plans To Expand

London-based vegan fast food chain Clean Kitchen Club has raised more than £2 million in the a latest investment round. The business aims to expand its its operations outside London and push the brand launch into stores.

The joint seed and crowdfunding round surpassed a £2.1m target on Seedrs, with £2.3m currently raised from more than 460 investors, including its existing shareholders.

This funding follows two seed rounds in last year when the company raised £1.1m. The list of fist investors included former Quorn chairman Clive Sharpe, Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews and Steve Easterbrook, the former CEO of McDonald’s.

The chain now operates six vegan restaurants, with plans to open a further five locations outside London, including in Brighton and Manchester. 

Clean Kitchen Club was founded by YouTuber Mikey Pearce and Made in Chelsea star Verity Bowditch in 2020. In the first year the business generated £725k of revenues and moved from dark kitchens on Deliveroo to its first restaurant in Camden.

Mikey Pearce commented: “From the moment we launched Clean Kitchen from my aunt’s kitchen in Brighton we have been on a mission to bring plant-based food to the mainstream.

“The success of our vegan takes on the grab & go classics has surpassed even our wildest dreams. The fact that so many have joined us on this journey, not just in a monetary sense but in advice and practical support, has been the icing on the cake.”

Verity Bowditch said: “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.”

Currently the company is working on it's first supermarket brand, planning to launch its vegan ready meals and food-to-go products in supermarkets and online stores in early 2023.