Spanish Plant-based Meat Company Heura Raised €16m To Accelerate The Protein Transition

Spanish plant-based meat brand, Heura, has announced a €16m investment round led by Impact Fooding. 

This is the Series A investment round led by the Barcelona-based start-up, who aim to accelerate the protein transition from animals to plants. The funding will be used to invest in R&D to develop new products, and to expand into new markets.

Heura is a plant-based startup founded by vegan food activists Marc Coloma and Bernat Añaños in April 2017. Its mission is to create solutions that will accelerate the transition to a world where animals are out of the equation. Their Mediterranean culinary heritage is reflected in their products: extra virgin olive oil, clean label, high nutritional values and taste. Heura is currently present in 16 countries around the world.

Heura was backed by mission-driven investors, including Impact Fooding, Unovis, Lever VC, Capital V and Green Monday.

Earlier this month the company closed a crowdfunding round to offer their committed community of Good Rebels the chance to own equity in the company for as little as €20. International football players such as Chris Smalling, Sergi Roberto and Cesc Fábregas all invested in the brand. 

The Barcelona-based start-up closed 2020 with a turnover of €8 million, triple the previous year, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in the European plant-based industry. 

In 2020, the brand saved the lives of more than 400,000 animals, more than 3,000 million litres of water - equivalent to 50 million showers or 1,232 Olympic swimming pools, more than 6.7 million kg of CO2 - equivalent to travelling over 27 million km by car; or travelling the circumference of the earth almost 700 times.

The Heura R&D team is currently hiring to grow the new product development team, increasing product variety and quality. Food technologists will continue to overcome challenges faced in the industry, ensuring products created are healthier and tastier than meat. Last year, Heura developed a fat analog made using extra virgin olive oil to mimic the juiciness of animal fat whilst maintaining a healthy nutritional profile.

Heura co-founder and CEO Marc Coloma said: “Having such a mission-driven profile of investors who trust and believe in our purpose means we’ll be able to boost the protein transition and accelerate the change we want to see in the world. Our mission is clear, and now we have gas to get there faster!”

In the UK, the plant-based sector has grown by 40% in the past five years, with vegans and vegetarians expected to make up a quarter of the British population by 2025.