The three celebrities invested money in the funding round for Heura, a Barcelona-based 100% vegetarian meat startup that was founded in 2017.
Sergio Busquets, Ricky Rubio and David Broncano are eyeing the same company to invest the hard-earned money into their football, basketball and television jobs, respectively. All three noticed Heura, a Barcelona startup created in April 2017 by activists Marc Coloma and Bernat Añaños, specializing in 100% vegetarian meat. In the latest round of funding, they made investments for these celebrities and also with the Unovis Asset Management fund, raising them to 20 million euros after the four raised last year.
Heura is the Spanish market leader in the plant-based technology category and projects explosive growth from 2023 onwards as Europe tries to promote alternative proteins. His goal is clear: to end the current diet and accelerate the transition to a world where not all meat comes from animals. Heura has made a revolution and has a passionate younger audience, so in this funding round, most investors are between 18 and 35 years old. Thus, the company continues its expansion in Europe until 2027, the year in which it plans to be the leader of the entire continent. That is why they develop their projects in the countries where they are already present, such as France, Italy and the United Kingdom, and intend to enter the markets of other countries such as Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
“We have a clear vision and this new funding will help us move from a successful Spanish company in this sector to a positive food technology startup driving protein transformation across Europe. This growth path is projected to take us through 2023 in a position to close the biggest Series B round in the industry,” explains Coloma. “Having investors with the same mission as Heura who dare to take bold steps to accelerate the plant protein transition gives us the resources to continue to drive growth in the category across Europe,” he adds. In addition, they are working on launching patents in November to be able to commercialize new foods next year.
As the company explained in a statement, Heura doubled the 7.6 million euros billed last year, earning around 15 million euros between January and June. The startup is responsible for 80% of Spain’s growth in food through vegetable protein and could end the year with 30% of the market.
Other Athletes Who Invested In Heura
The name Heura is not new in the world of sports, as last year several players deposited part of their income in the company. Saúl Ñíguez, Cesc Fàbregas, Borja Iglesias, Sergi Roberto and Briton Chris Smalling put their money and enthusiasm into a company that works to change the world. “There is still a lot of work ahead to build the ethical and sustainable food system we want,” said Bernat Ananios at the time.
