UK: Danone leads £2.5m funding round for Moju

  • 23 March 2021
  • Start-ups
The London-based healthy shots brand has attracted celebrity investors, including Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin and former retail executives
Photo as seen on Moju’s Facebook page

Healthy shots brand Moju has raised £2.5 million in a funding round led by Danone Manifesto Ventures. The round attracted Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin and experienced CPG food entrepreneurs including Tom Carroll, former executive of Graze, and Roger Hassan, former executive of Hello Fresh. Dave Nolan and Kevin Glynn, founders of fresh dog food delivery Butternut Box, a Five Seasons Ventures-backed company, also joined the round.

Rich Goldsmith and Charlie Leet-Cook founded Moju in London six years ago, pioneering drinks made with healthy and natural ingredients. The entrepreneurial duo recognises they started the company with “zero experience, armed only with simple, homemade cold-pressed juices and a mad ambition to mix up an industry”.

Moju produces a product range comprising four ready-to-drink 60ml shots, namely ginger, turmeric, vitamin C and vitamin D, and a range of 500ml dosing bottles. A prebiotic 500ml dosing bottle is the latest addition to its portfolio.

As well as selling online on the company’s website, Moju has secured shelf space with several UK retailers, including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Ocado, Amazon, Boots, WH Smith, Whole Foods and Planet Organic.

Paul Chifflet, head of Europe for Danone Manifesto Ventures, said: “Moju is a thriving omnichannel business with a smart and strong team that are addressing the fast-emerging consumer needs for natural functional and experiential products. We are excited to be partnering with the team on their next phase of growth.”

Moju reported double-digit growth in 2020 with sales picking up due to the consumer shift to healthier brands amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The company announced that retail sales could hit £9 million this year.

Goldsmith said: “We’ve built Moju from a kitchen table to trailblazing the insurgent functional shots category that’s been in high double-digit growth year-on-year since 2016.”

Moju is the latest addition to Danone Manifesto Ventures and its first investment in the UK. The corporate venture arm of the French dairy giant has invested primarily in the US and France, but also Germany and India.

Moju is also Danone Manifesto Ventures’ first investment of the year. In 2020, the firm invested in three companies – zero-waste food company Phenix of France, NSYE-listed, plant-based creamer maker Laird Superfood, and US-based food allergy prevention company Ready, Set, Food!