UK: Oat milk chocolate start-up eyes £2 million seed round

  • 24 November 2021
H!P Chocolate on target to report over £1 million revenue in its first year while sister brand Love Cocoa plans to rival Hotel Chocolat
H!P Chocolate is available online and in a number of independent retailers

Oat milk chocolate maker H!P is preparing to launch a £1 million to £2 million Seed round to increase its marketing efforts and hire for a number of senior roles. 

Speaking to NutritionInvestor, James Cadbury, creator of H!P Chocolate and premium chocolate brand Love Cocoa, said the start-up was in early talks with VCs that had expressed interest in the business. 

“In terms of what we’ll use that investment for, it’ll be marketing and hiring more senior staff. The average age within the team is 25 or 26 so we want to hire more experience to help us grow the business,” Cadbury said. 

H!P Chocolate was launched in April and is on target to report revenue of over £1 million in its first year of business. 

Online accounts for 15% of all H!P sales, while wholesale accounts for the majority.

The product is sold in a number of independent stores in London, as well as WH Smith and Booths in Manchester.

Cadbury said his team had been growing the brand’s in-store presence, while also recently launching with online delivery services Getir and Ocado. 

However, Love Cocoa has ambitions to rival Hotel Chocolat by opening a number of its own retail stores across all major UK cities.

“I think there is still a lot more trust in walking into a store and it’s really important to get your brand out there,” Cadbury said.

“Also, chocolate is quite a good thing to sell in-store as you can offer samples and when you give people chocolate they tend to buy.

Love Cocoa, which was founded in 2016, recorded £2.25 million in revenue in the 12 months to May 2021. Revenue for its current financial year is expected to grow to £3.5 million. 

The fundraising round will likely close in January 2022.