Allplants has bean and gone: vegan startup files for administration
Vegan meal kit startup Allplants has officially entered administration, with 65 members of its staff having been made redundant already.
Last week, the foodtech startup’s founder had told The Grocer the executive team were “working tirelessly”, and recovery firm Interpath were to evaluate “all possible options for restructuring, refinancing and ensuring the sustainability of Allplants.”
Allplants filed a Notice of Intention (NOI) on the 18th November, with Will Wright and Howard Smith from Interpath Advisory appointed as joint administrators on the 22nd November.
On top of the 65 redundancies, production at Allplants’ manufacturing site has ceased completely. The startup’s website now reads: “This could be farewell […] Thank you for being a part of allplants; it’s been a pleasure to cook for you,” and mentions its closing down sale, with all products sitting at 30% off.
In its August filings, Allplants founder Jonathan Petrides characterised the seven months leading up to March 2023 as "undoubtedly" the most challenging chapter in the startup's journey, following the surge in demand for meal delivery services during the Covid-era.
Allplants recorded a pre-tax loss of £9.86 million for the financial year ending 31st March 2023, according to its latest accounts. This marked a slight improvement from the prior year, when the firm reported a pre-tax loss exceeding £10 million.
In remarks accompanying its latest financial accounts, Jonathan Petrides, Co-Founder and CEO of Allplants, referred to the 2022-23 trading year as “the most intensively chopping waters” the business had encountered since its launch.
Since its launch in 2016, Allplants has secured $81 million in funding, as reported by Dealroom. Backers include Molten Ventures, Felix Capital, Octopus Ventures, TriplePoint Capital, as well as professional footballer Chris Smalling and ex-footballer Kieran Gibbs.
In June of this year, Allplants secured £1.8 million in funding from investors such as Molten Ventures and Felix Capital. According to Dealroom, the startup’s workforce has significantly reduced, falling from a peak of 114 employees in July 2022 to just 57 as of this month.
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