September 04, 2023, LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Butternut Box, the UK-based fresh dog food company known for its innovative approach to pet food, today announced it has raised £280m in its latest fundraising round from new investor General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm. Existing investor L Catterton, a leading global consumer-focused investment firm, also participated in the round, helping to further the brand’s presence in Europe and continue its mission to deliver fresh, tasty, and healthy meals to dogs around the world. The transaction’s closing is subject to customary regulatory conditions, but is expected to occur in Q4 2023.

Butternut Box is Europe’s largest fresh dog food brand, feeding dogs in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and most recently Poland following its April 2023 acquisition of PsiBufet, one of the leading fresh dog food companies in Central and Eastern Europe. Since its inception in 2016, Butternut Box has grown rapidly, raising over £100m to date including investments from L Catterton, White Star Capital, Five Seasons Ventures, Passion Capital, Literacy Capital, Claret Capital, and HSBC.

This latest investment will be used to build on this momentum, underscoring Butternut Box’s mission to deliver health and happiness to dogs and their humans. Butternut Box plans to use this funding to accelerate the Company’s leadership position across the Fresh category in the pet food space through further European expansion, including the development of a new European manufacturing facility. The planned facility will be the second of its kind for Butternut Box after Rudie’s Kitchen, a fully integrated manufacturing and fulfilment facility that opened in March 2021, giving the Company complete visibility and control over its emissions production. This further underlines the Company’s commitment to creating a positive impact across all areas of its business, as evidenced by receiving B Corp accreditation in September 2022.

Kevin Glynn, co-founder of Butternut Box, said: “We are delighted to now partner with General Atlantic, who is an incredible investor and shares our long-term vision of developing the category of Fresh pet food across Europe. It is also fantastic to receive further support from our long-standing partner, L Catterton who we’ve been proud to work with for several years now and who also believes in the power of Fresh and that we are only really at the starting line. Most notably we are incredibly excited by what this investment will unlock for our customers (dogs and humans) in the years to come as we are nothing without them.”

“We’re thrilled about the ways in which this investment will allow us to continue to live out our mission,” added David Nolan, co-founder of Butternut Box. “Everyone here is driven by a uniting purpose to deliver health and happiness to all dogs, everywhere. This investment will help us take the next leap forward in doing just that.”

“We are very excited to partner with Kevin and David who have reimagined Fresh pet food through Butternut Box’s diversified product portfolio and mission-driven brand,” said Melis Kahya Akar, Managing Director and Head of Consumer for EMEA at General Atlantic. “There is an immense opportunity set across the Fresh pet food category in EMEA, and we believe Butternut Box is well positioned to leverage its digitally enabled business model to meet this growing demand. We look forward to utilising our pet expertise and technology capabilities to support the Company through its next chapter of growth.”

“Since partnering with Kevin, David, and the team three years ago, Butternut Box has expanded its leadership in the growing Fresh pet food space in the UK and Europe and has built a loyal following among pets and humans alike,” said Howard Steyn, a Partner at L Catterton. “While we have long had conviction in the UK Fresh category after investing behind this concept in the U.S., we’ve been particularly impressed by how Butternut Box continues to innovate and deliver such compelling value to its customers. We look forward to leveraging our global experience in the pet category to support the brand’s next phase of growth.”

Butternut Box is dedicated to serving only the highest quality, freshly–prepared meals for dogs, delivered straight to customers’ doors. With a core meals range of 12 fresh recipes, plus a growing selection of treats, chews and supplements, Butternut Box is delivering a fresh take on dog food.

Butternut Box was advised by Harris Williams and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor and Freshfields served as legal advisor to General Atlantic. PwC served as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins served as legal advisor to L Catterton.

About Butternut Box

Butternut Box is a fresh dog food company founded by two friends, Kev & Dave. The two started the company after seeing the benefits that home-cooked food had on Dave’s poorly rescue dog, Rudie. Butternut’s mission is to deliver health and happiness to dogs and their humans all over the world. For more information, visit www.butternutbox.com.

About General Atlantic

General Atlantic is a leading global growth equity firm with more than four decades of experience providing capital and strategic support for over 500 growth companies throughout its history. Established in 1980 to partner with visionary entrepreneurs and deliver lasting impact, the firm combines a collaborative global approach, sector specific expertise, a long-term investment horizon and a deep understanding of growth drivers to partner with great entrepreneurs and management teams to scale innovative businesses around the world. General Atlantic has more than $77 billion in assets under management inclusive of all products as of June 30, 2023, and more than 220 investment professionals based in New York, Amsterdam, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jakarta, London, Mexico City, Miami, Mumbai, Munich, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, Stamford and Tel Aviv. For more information on General Atlantic, please visit: www.generalatlantic.com.

About L Catterton

L Catterton is a market-leading consumer-focused investment firm, managing approximately $34 billion of equity capital and three multi-product platforms: private equity, credit, and real estate. Leveraging deep category insight, operational excellence, and a broad network of strategic relationships, L Catterton’s team of more than 200 investment and operating professionals across 17 offices partners with management teams to drive differentiated value creation across its portfolio. Founded in 1989, the firm has made over 250 investments in some of the world’s most iconic consumer brands. For more information about L Catterton, please visit www.lcatterton.com.

Contacts
Butternut Box
Tom Lansdowne
tom@butternutbox.com

General Atlantic
Liz McBain
media@generalatlantic.com

L Catterton
Julie Hamilton
media@lcatterton.com
203.742.5185

• New York-based Gympass allows its base of over two million employee subscribers to access a global network of over 50,000 gyms, studios, classes, personal trainers, and wellness apps although though one employee benefit
• The USD 85 million investment round will help Gympass accelerate growth across its 11 global markets, as employers prioritize decreasing healthcare costs and improving employee wellbeing
• EQT Growth, in partnership with the company’s management team and existing investors, will support the company in the next leg of its growth journey, leveraging its in-house digital business development experts to continue to deepen Gympass’ network and global leadership

EQT is pleased to announce that the EQT Growth fund (“EQT Growth”) has invested in Gympass (or the “Company”), as part of its $85m Series F round. The round also saw participation from Neuberger Berman client funds and existing investors. Carolina Brochado, Deputy Head of the EQT Growth Advisory team, will join the Gympass Board.

Founded in 2012 and based in New York, Gympass is a leading corporate wellness platform, providings access to a network of over 50,000 gyms, studios, classes, personal trainers, and wellness apps through a single employee benefit. With over two million global employee subscribers, Gympass supports companies around the world to retain employees, drive productivity, and reduce healthcare costs.

Gympass has seen 80% year-on-year growth in its customer base over the last year, on the back of strong adoption tailwinds for its platform. For example, four out of five employees globally believe wellbeing is equally important to salary, according to the Gympass Work-Life Wellness Report 2022. As a result of its powerful platform, Gympass has more than doubled the average number of employees engaged with wellness at its corporate customers and has thereby grown the market, all while driving improved employee happiness and health.

EQT Growth will support Gympass in its next phase of growth, drawing on EQT’s presence in over 20 countries across the world. It will leverage its in-house digital business development experts, as well as its extensive network of industrial advisors to help Gympass continue to deepen its reach and global leadership. EQT Growth will also support further investment in the Company’s product capabilities.

Carolina Brochado, Deputy Head of the EQT Growth Advisory team, said: “For years we have watched the Gympass team exceed expectations again and again. Their powerful recurring model, which now reaches 11 markets globally, sees clear and strong network effects the more it scales. It enables Gympass to deliver a diverse and growing network of partners, thereby reaching employees who might not have previously had access to wellness activities and as a result further expanding the market. We are really excited to be helping this stellar management team continue to build a healthier, happier, and more productive corporate world.”

Cesar Carvalho, Co-Founder and CEO of Gympass, said: “We live in a time where companies globally are making investments to drive efficient growth and reduce spending. Organizations are shifting from reactive and traditional healthcare benefits that increase costs, to more holistic and preventative wellness benefits that reduce costs and improve employee wellbeing and productivity. With the support of EQT Growth and our other investors, we look forward to further accelerating our growth and reach so that we can improve the wellbeing of even more employees around the world.”

Contact
​​Finn McLaughlan, finn.mclaughlan@eqtpartners.com, +44 771 534 1608
EQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com, +46 8 506 55 334

About EQT Growth
EQT Growth supports leading growth-stage technology companies as they take the next step to scale. The strategy seeks to invest around EUR 50 million to EUR 200 million, backing strong management teams of companies supported by secular macro trends primarily within four tech sub-sectors: enterprise, con/prosumer, health, and climate. Based in five countries across Europe, the EQT Growth team has extensive investing and operating experience that allows it to support its portfolio companies however called upon.

EQT Growth is part of EQT, a purpose-driven global investment organization with EUR 126 billion in fee-paying assets under management within two business segments – Private Capital and Real Assets. EQT owns portfolio companies and assets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas and supports them in achieving sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership.

More info: www.eqtgroup.com
Follow EQT on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram 

About Gympass
Gympass is one of the most loved corporate wellness platform, offering the best network of gyms, studios, classes, personal trainers, and wellness apps – all in one employee benefit. More than 15,000 companies use Gympass to help their employees move, eat, sleep, and feel better with access to fitness and wellness partners in subscriptions that cost up to 50% less than traditional memberships. Gympass more than doubles the number of employees engaged with wellness. This widespread participation results in workforces that are 40% less likely to turnover and save their companies up to 35% on healthcare costs. Investing in employee wellbeing is investing in company performance. Get started at gympass.com

Eurazeo has recently invested in CTN Groupe via its Corporate Financing (Private Debt) business and its Eurazeo Corporate Relance (ECR) and NOVI 2 funds1. The aim of this new transaction is to continue and accelerate the company’s development.

CTN Groupe is a major player in the events industry. For more than 40 years, it has been designing and distributing decoration products and solutions (walls, ceilings, floors etc.) for a wide array of events. The group has 12,000 product lines and operates via an optimised, efficient logistics network that enables it to deliver most products on a next-day basis.

CTN Groupe has gradually diversified its business into adjacent sectors through the successful acquisitions of Bâches de France and Like Mirror, and through geographical expansion into the UK and Belgium.

CTN Groupe will pursue the development plan inspired by Olivier Langlois since his arrival in 2019. The plan mainly involves implementing a strategy based on profitable sales growth, digital transformation, CSR and acquisitions, between now and 2027.

Eurazeo now has carried out a €22.0 million sponsorless transaction to allow Indigo Capital to exit and to pass ownership to a new generation of operational managers, while allowing CTN Groupe to pursue organic growth and acquisitions in its core businesses.

In this transaction, CTN Groupe and the investors were accompanied by the group’s long-standing banking partners (BNP Paribas, LCL, CIC, La Banque Postale and BPI) as part of a refinancing of the company’s debt.

This is the fifth investment made by Eurazeo’s ECR fund since it was launched in 2022.