Huel secures £20m funding boost from investors including Idris Elba

Plant-based meal replacement business Huel has secured 24 million US dollars (£20 million) to fuel its growth plans from investors including film star Idris Elba.

The actor and his wife Sabrina Dhowre Elba have injected cash into the business alongside Jonathan Ross and Tala activewear boss Grace Beverley.

Venture Capital fund Highland Europe led the funding round as it sought to secure a cash injection to help its “scale up phase”.

Chief executive officer James McMaster told the PA news agency that the business saw the raise as a “sensible” step in its growth trajectory.

“I think a couple of years ago some similar companies were proud of raising as much as they could but we were focused on making a sensible step, to get the right funding from the right investors,” he said.

“It will be used across a number of areas and growing in retail channels is one potential area.

“We’ve been contacted and told that some products, like our ready-to-drink banana product, would sell really well so, although it wasn’t something we necessarily always set out for, it is a really interesting prospect.”

Funding will also be used for global expansion, with a particular focus in growing the UK brand in the US.

The brand primarily sells its drinks, powders and meal products directly to customers online.

Huel, which has offices in Hertfordshire, Birmingham and London, said the latest funding move comes after it reported a 40% jump in revenues to around 170 million US dollars (£143 million) for the year to July 2022, compared with the previous year.

Mr Elba said: “I’ve been a Hueligan for several years now, starting my journey while preparing for my role in Thor, so to come on board with Huel was an easy decision.

“I believe in their mission to deliver nutritionally complete food, sustainably.

“We have some exciting projects coming up and I look forward to spreading the message and raising awareness around healthy, low carbon food.”

Mr McMaster added: “Highland Europe have been a strong backer for our business in the last four years and we’re delighted about the extra support from Idris, Sabrina, Grace and Jonathan.

“Our investors have all expressed their belief for what we are trying to achieve at Huel – making nutritionally complete, convenient, affordable food, with minimal impact on animals and the environment.”