Serious Pig smashes crowdfunding target

It has surpassed the initial £350,000 target for the campaign, leading to founder and managing director George Rice to extend it for another week to take advantage of the demand to offer support.

The investment raised by the campaign is expected to be used to accelerate growth over the next three years. This includes expand the existing product ranges and taking the brand to the wider consumer market across the UK and beyond.

The business has seen growth of 36% since 2014 and is valued in excess of £8m, with £152,000 of sales in the fourth quarter of 2018. When it started out, its availability was limited to pubs, but it is now available in retailers such as Whole Foods, the Co-op and Tesco.

As part of its update on the Crowdcube website, it revealed that it had signed a deal to supply around 330 Sainsbury’s Local stores from June, as well as trials for the Stonegate Pub Company.

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog and existing investor, has operated as an advisor to the snacking brand over the past four years and has personally invested in Serious Pig again during this round of funding.

Rice said: “I can’t thank each and every investor enough for their support. Your investments are going to allow us to compete with the major snack brands in the UK. It’ll allow us to grow our sales and marketing team to really accelerate our growth, so we can reach every corner of the UK where there’s a retailer that cares about offering great taste and quality.”​

In November 2018, meat-free brand Hooba Foods launched a Crowdcube campaign​​ to raise £250,000 to fund a marketing and communications campaign.