Online sustainable grocery delivery service Modern Milkman achieved 100% growth in 2022.
Headquartered in Manchester and with 16 hubs across England, Modern Milkman works with independent suppliers and British dairy farmers to deliver grocery products without single-use plastic packaging, from eggs, yoghurt and bakery items to fruit and vegetables.
Modern Milkman is driven by technology, using intelligent data and analytics to map out milkrounds, forecast demand and reduce carbon emissions. It gathers information, such as shelf-life dates, customer ordering patterns and warehouse data to ensure customers receive deliveries on time with minimum waste in the supply chain.
Meanwhile, its app is designed to help consumers reduce food waste by allowing users to shop little and often, without compromising on sustainability. Customers can see exactly how much single-use plastic they have saved as they buy with their own personalised bottle counters on the app.
In July 2022, Modern Milkman secured a £2.25m investment from Praetura Ventures, the Manchester-based venture capital investor, to support the business’ ongoing scaling and sustainability efforts.
Funding came through British Business Investments’ Regional Angels Programme, which works by committing funds for investment alongside business angels and other early-stage equity investors, acting as a catalyst to bring longer-term capital to smaller businesses with growth ambitions.
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Since, the business has gone from strength-to-strength, achieving 100 per cent growth in 2022, featuring fourth in the Startups 100 Index 2023 of firms revolutionising UK industries, recently becoming a B Corp™ and preventing the creation of over 67m plastic bottles – equal to over 69,000 wheelie bins.
“When we were looking for an investor, it was incredibly important that we worked with a northern fund,” said Simon Mellin, founder and CEO. “With Praetura, we have found a true partner, and to have the backing of the Regional Angels Programme makes it all the more fitting.
“We want to reset how people interact with groceries, getting people back into little and often shopping habits, and allowing society to become more sustainable.
“Working with Praetura, we’ve benefitted not only from the funding, which was such an important factor in our growth, but also from the sense of community you get with the other businesses in the portfolio and the expert advice from the team.”
David Foreman, managing director of Praetura Ventures, said: “Modern Milkman are on an incredible growth trajectory as a business, but also as a catalyst for change. We’re seeing tangible differences in the way people shop as a result of Simon and the teams’ work. The Regional Angels Programme helped support the Praetura team’s investment, and we’re proud to be part of the Modern Milkman story as they scale from their North West base.”