London start-up Butternut Box raises £15 million to fuel expansion

Butternut Box, a London start-up that makes and delivers home-cooked dog food to people’s doors, has raised £15 million in fresh funding to diversify into snacks, toys and wellness products and expand on the Continent.

The cash injection included new investors Five Seasons, a European food tech fund, and existing backers White Star Capital, as well as Eileen Burbidge’s Passion Capital and Sky Bet executive chairman Richard Flint, who joins the board.

The London business, which has raised £21 million to date, was set up in 2016 by friends and former Goldman Sachs bankers Kevin Glynn, 29, above left, and David Nolan, 32, right.

The entrepreneurs were spurred on after Nolan’s dogs, a Staffie and a Shih Tzu — who had weepy eyes, were lethargic or scratched constantly — shed their little niggles by eating healthy, simple meals, such as mincemeat and rice, made by his family.

It now has 59 staff and it has delivered eight million meals to pooches. It expects revenues to grow by 300% this year.

Nolan said: "We want to diversify our offering to serve customers across the board."

Flint said: “Although it might not seem that dog food and online betting have much in common, there are many parallels. My passion is helping great teams to succeed.”