Food start-up Sessions toasts £3m Guinness Ventures backing
Sessions will announce this week that it will use its new seven-figure backing to launch a franchising arm with brands including SoBe Burger, Sky News understands.
Monday 8 April 2024 11:58, UK
A company which provides emerging talent from Britain's food industry with a platform to sell its products has raised a further £3m to fuel its growth.
Sky News understands that Sessions, which was founded by former Deliveroo executive Dan Warne, has secured the funding from Guinness Ventures, an existing investor.
The fundraising will be announced publicly on Tuesday, and values the company at several tens of millions of pounds, according to insiders.
The valuation is roughly double that of its Series A round, marking Sessions out as a rarity in a hospitality industry dogged by inflationary and consumer demand challenges in the aftermath of the pandemic.
Sessions, which operates a chef-led food hall on Brighton's seafront, works with brands such as SoBe Burger, Little Bao Boy and Patty Guy - the last of which was founded by former Masterchef winner, Kenny Tutt.
It said the new capital would help launch a franchising arm, beginning with SoBe Burger and Ivan Ramen.
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Tap hereDescribing itself as "the record label of food", it has assembled a roster of more than 300 kitchens, and delivered over 3.5 million orders across its digital and physical platforms.
The company raised about £7.5m at the start of 2022, and struck a £3.25m debt deal with Virgin Money last autumn.
Mr Warne said the funding came after Sessions had "navigated a tricky couple of years" and was now "delivering strong, sustainable growth".
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"Sessions is well-placed to take advantage of the increasing demand for high quality, authentic food from talented chefs across the country, at the same time supporting the wider kitchen partner ecosystem through the creation of complementary revenue streams," Ashley Abrahams, head of origination at Guinness Ventures, added.