SaladStop! Group, Singapore-based healthy food chain, has announced the closing of a SG$12 million ($8.88 million) Series B investment round, led by Singapore state investor Temasek.
The round also saw the participation from new investors including Vulcan Capital, K3 Ventures, and East Ventures. Existing investor DSG Consumer Partners (DSGCP) also participated in the round.
SaladStop! said in a statement, the fundraising proceeds will be used to continue to accelerate the group’s digital transformation including its investment in proprietary technologies.
At the same time, the new funding will be deployed to deepen the group’s expansion across Asia, enabling it to scale operations adding four new countries by 2025, and building out into second tier cities through the continued expansion of its cloud kitchen model, it added.
It also said the funding will enable the group to leverage its newer health food brands Heybo and Wooshi, at lower price points, and offer many more customers access to nutritious food at affordable pricing.
“Our mission is to shape the future of food in Asia, and to ensure that healthy food is convenient and accessible to everyone. This fundraising round is a major milestone for us,
“The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the resilience of our business across all markets and accelerated our push online. Fuelled by innovative and proprietary technologies, a network of cloud kitchens and a new generation of transparent, tech-enabled and scalable health food brands, we are excited to be partnering with such strategic and value-aligned investors to dramatically scale the business to new heights,” said Adrien Desbaillets, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of SaladStop!.
Founded in 2009 by father and son, Daniel and Adrien Desbaillets, co-headed by daughter Katherine and son-in-law Frantz Braha, SaladStop! has sought to disrupt the traditional fast food model, and has pioneered delivering healthy, nutritious menus to customers across Asia.
The SaladStop! brands include SaladStop!, Heybo, Wooshi and GoodFoodPeople across a hybrid online/offline model, with 69 outlets and a presence in seven markets across Asia Pacific.
According to SaladStop, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the group’s push to digital, with over 50% of sales today generated online and a substantial proportion through the group’s direct channels.
It also said, SaladStop! today is already impacting 3.5 million people a year, offering them nutritional transparency and climate-positive choices.
The startup aims to become the leading personalized nutrition company in Asia through the extensive deepening of the group’s existing footprint via new cloud kitchens, fostering more tech-enabled growth with its proprietary technologies, and leveraging its deeply embedded ecosystem of food-tech partners.
“To achieve our ambitious growth strategy, we plan to deepen our roots in our existing markets, while also expanding our footprint in selected new countries. We have built an extensive infrastructure across the region over the past few years and will continue to leverage our technological capabilities and proprietary cloud kitchen operating model to accelerate our growth in emerging markets,” said Frantz Braha, Chief Growth Officer of SaladStop!.
According to him, the firm caters to an addressable market of 69 million people across 11 cities and aims to serve over twenty million meals by 2025.
According to the statement, to pursue its mission to build a food solution for the future, SaladStop! will accelerate its investment into food sustainability, focusing on ingredient traceability and opening of the group’s first net zero outlet in 2022, aligning with Singapore’s 30×30 goals.
The group has already launched multiple initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint, including offering plant-based foods, sustainably sourced ingredients, green packaging, supporting reforestation programs, and being the first and only business in Asia to allow customers to carbon offset their meal.
Earlier this month, SaladStop! launched Good Food People, a new plant based online grocer, which offers the largest selection of meat alternative proteins in Singapore as well as ready to heat options and homemade sauces, dressings, and other items.
“As the first healthy food chain in Asia, we want to drive change in the food industry, especially at this challenging time, given not only the effects of the pandemic on people’s health and wellbeing, but also with the current disruption on supply chains and the extraordinary threat posed by climate change.” said Katherine Desbaillets Braha, Chief Brand Officer of SaladStop!.
“Our family has been on a mission to empower our customers to understand and measure the full impact of their food choices, not only on their health, but on the health of the planet,”: she added.