IDRIS ELBA INVEST IN VEGAN SHAKE BRAND
The eight-year-old firm Huel, which makes vegan nutritional shakes, recently raised $24 million in a Series B fundraising round, increasing its worth to $560 million.
Along with British comedian and TV host Jonathan Ross and the CEO of the sportswear company TALA, TALA, English actor Idris Elba and his wife Sabrina invested in the vegan shake brand.
Idris Elba is well known for his appearances in The Wire, Luther, and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom.
“I’ve been a Huel fan 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,” Elba said in a statement.
“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.”
Huel, a combination of the words “human” and “fuel,” was created by Julian Hearn and James Collier to address the environmental effects of conventional food production and food waste with little negative impact on the environment or animals.
In 2017, the brand’s initial product, a protein powder with a reduced carbon footprint, was introduced in the United Kingdom. Since then, the brand has grown to include ready-to-drink, snack bar, and hot meal choices.
Huel CEO James McMaster stated in a statement, “We are aiming to alter the way the world thinks about food and Huel offers a solution to assist consumers make easy adjustments to their eating choices.
VEGAN SHAKES WITH LITTLE CARBON
After a $20 million venture funding round, Huel introduced its nutritional bars in the US in 2019.
The majority of the company’s devoted customers today—known as “Hueligans”—live in the US, which is Huel’s second-largest market after Japan and Germany.
The company’s expansion from only direct-to-consumer to retail outlets and the new product launches are credited for its impressive growth—40% year over year.
The additional money will be put to use for ongoing new product innovation, ongoing online and offline retail store expansion, and extended international expansion with an emphasis on the US.
As part of the Elbas investment, Huel will collaborate with them on their climate change campaign to help people eat at 1.5°C, the global warming limit that the Paris Agreement aims to achieve.
Huel meals fit into a diet that supports that decrease, and Huel believes that raising awareness of our diets is one of the simplest and most effective measures people can do to combat climate change.