Bristol game meat retailer Wild and Game has raised £485,000 in its first equity crowd funder, smashing its target of £200,000.
Launched in 2017, Wild and Game said it had grown "dramatically" in the last two years after the coronavirus lockdowns increased public appetite for food deliveries.
According to the Westbury on Trym-based firm, customers have stayed with the company post-lockdown, driving its revenues to £1m in the last six months.
The new funding, raised in a month-long Crowdcube campaign, will be used to boost the company’s marketing efforts and to support its move to a new distribution centre in the West Country, which will allow it to offer Saturday and next-day deliveries.
Wild and Game co-founder Steven Frampton said: “We’re delighted that our first ever fundraiser has far exceeded its target. This reflects the growing public appetite for game meat, which is fast gaining ground as an attractive and sustainable alternative to the meats you usually find in a supermarket."
As well as selling direct to consumers, Wild and Game supplies its products to independent food retailers and supermarkets around the UK. The business also sells its own pies, pasties, sausage rolls, charcuterie and ready meals as well as sausages, burgers and ready-to-cook meat.
Mr Frampton said: "Game is in plentiful supply in the UK; it has low food miles and its production has a lower carbon footprint than other systems of meat production. It’s also a delicious, versatile and healthy ingredient which can be enjoyed in an endless variety of recipes."
The business owner said he and his team were "very much looking forward to" building on the company's success. over the last two years. He added: "This new funding will enable us to step up our efforts to make game readily available to people in the UK, all year round."
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox
