London, UK - November 2022 - JULIENNE BRUNO, the creative food developer and producer taking plant-based food to new heights, announces the closure of its most recent funding round with Cherry Ventures, bringing total funding to over £6 million. The funds will contribute to the expansion of the brand and its larger vision for transforming the food industry. The brand believes this starts with both taste and the language you use to describe it.
Founded in December 2020 by Axel Katalan, a food lover passionate about recreating the boundless eating experiences one usually has with dairy and meat options, JULIENNE BRUNO’s aim is not to imitate or compare. Instead, the brand offers a different perspective on plant-based food, creating familiar but new products for people to enjoy due to the quality of them, not because they’re vegan.
The pre-seed investment back in February 2021 was led by Seedcamp, along with Nicoya and select angel investors. The initial seed round of just over one million pounds saw the development of the brand’s ‘Collection 01’, a dairy-free experience, consisting of three products: Burrella, Crematta and Superstraccia. Inspired by classics, each product has been given a name that’s easily recognisable but also allows it to establish its own identity, thus making the vegan prefix obsolete.
Carlos Eduardo Espinal, Managing Partner at Seedcamp comments, “JULIENNE BRUNO’s Collection 01 is not only a more sustainable and ethical alternative to dairy products but also tastes even better! Axel and his team are elevating the dairy-free food experience without compromising on taste or texture!”
The recent funding round has been led by Cherry Ventures and includes Outsized Ventures, as well as pro-rata from existing investors such as Seedcamp & Nicoya with a total of £5,000,000 being raised. The investment will fuel growth, support the partnerships with nationwide retailers, Selfridges London, Holland & Barrett and Whole Foods Market, the expansion of the team and the creation of the sweet side of ‘Collection 01’.
Since launch, JULIENNE BRUNO has grown to 16 employees with an entire production space in a London warehouse, which the team built from scratch. The HQ oversees the whole process from start to finish including goods in, production, storage and dispatch. The sourcing, processing, packing and shipping of all of the products takes place under one roof - aptly named ‘Kitchen 01’.
The team behind the brand includes Founder Axel Katalan, (previously concept developer for Alan Yau MBE and Co-Founder of deep location tech brand Pointr), Head of Product Development Albert Adria (a gastronomic trailblazer with multiple Michelin Star awards, previously Head of Creativity at El Bulli, Founder Tickets Restaurant, Hoja Santa and Enigma to name a few), Head of Food Chi San (previously Head of Food for Alan Yau Projects, starting with Head Chef at Wagamama (1992) and following through to all projects such as Hakkasan, Busaba etc), Chief Commercial Officer Sunjiv Shah (previously General Manager of Uber Eats UK & Ireland and part of the founding team) and Board Advisor Alan Yau MBE (renowned for founding numerous ventures in gastronomy such as Hakkasan, Wagamama, Busaba Eathai and Park Chinois).
Axel Katalan, Founder of JULIENNE BRUNO, comments, “I'd like to take this opportunity to give a warm welcome to everyone who is just hearing about us for the first time. We are one heart and many hands. Always curious and always hungry. The kitchen is our creative workshop and hospitality is our culture. Now, let's sit & eat.”
“At remarkable speed – less than a year of development – the JULIENNE BRUNO team has created and brought the best tasting dairy-free, plant-based cheese to market,” says Christian Meermann, founding partner at Cherry Ventures which includes Infarm, Planet A Foods, Flink, Rekki and flaschenpost among its foodtech portfolio.
Dinika Mahtani from Cherry Ventures adds, “The vegan product market is expected to grow significantly in the next decade, and we have full confidence that JULIENNE BRUNO will lead the way. With our seed round, we’re excited to join Axel and his team as they bring their original products to more people, and we’re excited the news coincides with their launches in Holland & Barrett plus Whole Foods Market in the UK.”
JULIENNE BRUNO products are available online at juliennebruno.com, in-store in the Foodhall at Selfridges London and on the menu at select restaurants in London such as the Big Mamma Group. The brand is also available in 45 Holland & Barrett stores nationwide and in 7 Whole Foods Market stores. Click here for a list of stockists. For live updates, please follow @juliennebruno.
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for press enquiries please contact
maria.carton@aisle8.com / juliennebruno@aisle8.com
