London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Aug 22, 2025

Meal-kit delivery unicorn Gousto cuts valuation in latest funding

Meal-kit delivery unicorn Gousto cuts valuation in latest funding

The subscription recipe-box service backed by Joe Wicks and SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 has raised £50m at a reduced valuation to help it weather a "volatile period".
Gousto, the meal-kit delivery service, has cut its valuation after raising tens of millions of pounds in additional funding to steer it through a volatile economic period.

Sky News has learnt that Gousto, which is backed by the celebrity fitness trainer Joe Wicks, tapped existing investors in recent weeks for £50m in the form of a share sale.

Sources close to the company said the funding round, which has not been publicised, took place at a "significant" discount to the $1.7bn valuation at which it raised funds just over a year ago.

Founded in 2012, Gousto sells subscriptions to recipe boxes and markets itself as offering healthy meals at value-for-money prices.

It has drawn investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the world's largest technology company backer, Unilever's ventures arm, Fidelity International, the railways pension scheme Railpen and Grosvenor Food & AgTech, an arm of the Duke of Westminster's vast business portfolio.

A $100m primary fundraising in January 2022 was followed by a $230m secondary share placing which allowed existing investors to reduce their holdings.

SoftBank invested at a significant premium to the valuation that saw Gousto become a "unicorn" - companies worth at least $1bn (£739m) - in November 2020, meaning it is now likely to be sitting on a paper loss on its stake.

The size of the discount to the last funding round was unclear on Monday, with shareholders expected to receive a formal update from the company shortly.

"The raise will provide the cash headroom required as the company enters a volatile period," one insider said on Monday.
Advertisement

Gousto benefited from a surge in demand during the pandemic, and had said it aimed to double its workforce to 2,000 and open two further distribution warehouses.

The company was founded by Timo Boldt and James Carter, two former investment bankers, with the former winning the accountancy firm EY's prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2022.

Mr Boldt quit his previous job at the age of 26 to set up Gousto.

Despite the fall in its valuation, his stake is likely to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

In its 2020 financial year, Gousto saw revenue more than double to £189m, up from £83m during the prior 12 months.

It also reported underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation in 2020 of £18.2m, against a loss of £9m in 2019.

In 2021, the company named Katherine Garrett-Cox, a prominent City figure, as its chairman, an appointment that was interpreted as a clear sign that it was preparing to go public.

Ms Garrett-Cox became a well-known figure in the City during her tenure as chief executive of Alliance Trust, from which she was ultimately ousted by the activist investor Elliott Advisors.

Bankers at Rothschild have been retained to work on a flotation, although that is unlikely to take place for some time.

"All four investors recognise the growth that Gousto has achieved and the opportunities ahead for the company as we embark on our next stage of growth and accelerate towards our goal to become the UK's most-loved way to eat dinner," Mr Boldt said last February.

Gousto declined to comment on the latest injection of capital.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
After 200,000 Orders in 2 Minutes: Xiaomi Accelerates Marketing in Europe
Ukraine Declares De Facto War on Hungary and Slovakia with Terror Drone Strikes on Their Gas Lifeline
Animated K-pop Musical ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Original Animated Film
New York Appeals Court Voids Nearly $500 Million Civil Fraud Penalty Against Trump While Upholding Fraud Liability
Elon Musk tweeted, “Europe is dying”
Far-Right Activist Convicted of Incitement Changes Gender and Demands: "Send Me to a Women’s Prison" | The Storm in Germany
Hungary Criticizes Ukraine: "Violating Our Sovereignty"
Will this be the first country to return to negative interest rates?
Child-free hotels spark controversy
North Korea is where this 95-year-old wants to die. South Korea won’t let him go. Is this our ally or a human rights enemy?
Hong Kong Launches Regulatory Regime and Trials for HKD-Backed Stablecoins
China rehearses September 3 Victory Day parade as imagery points to ‘loyal wingman’ FH-97 family presence
Trump Called Viktor Orbán: "Why Are You Using the Veto"
Horror in the Skies: Plane Engine Exploded, Passengers Sent Farewell Messages
MSNBC Rebrands as MS NOW Amid Comcast’s Cable Spin-Off
AI in Policing: Draft One Helps Speed Up Reports but Raises Legal and Ethical Concerns
Shame in Norway: Crown Princess’s Son Accused of Four Rapes
Apple Begins Simultaneous iPhone 17 Production in India and China
A Robot to Give Birth: The Chinese Announcement That Shakes the World
Finnish MP Dies by Suicide in Parliament Building
Outrage in the Tennis World After Jannik Sinner’s Withdrawal Storm
William and Kate Are Moving House – and the New Neighbors Were Evicted
Class Action Lawsuit Against Volkswagen: Steering Wheel Switches Cause Accidents
Taylor Swift on the Way to the Super Bowl? All the Clues Stirring Up Fans
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Apple Expands Social Media Presence in China With RedNote Account Ahead of iPhone 17 Launch
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Cambridge Dictionary Adds 'Skibidi,' 'Delulu,' and 'Tradwife' Amid Surge of Online Slang
Bill Barr Testifies No Evidence Implicated Trump in Epstein Case; DOJ Set to Release Records
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
The CEO Who Replaced 80% of Employees for the AI Revolution: "I Would Do It Again"
Emails Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Character.ai Bets on Future of AI Companionship
China Ramps Up Tax Crackdown on Overseas Investments
Japanese Office Furniture Maker Expands into Bomb Shelter Market
Intel Shares Surge on Possible U.S. Government Investment
Hurricane Erin Threatens U.S. East Coast with Dangerous Surf
EU Blocks Trade Statement Over Digital Rule Dispute
EU Sends Record Aid as Spain Battles Wildfires
JPMorgan Plans New Canary Wharf Tower
Zelenskyy and his allies say they will press Trump on security guarantees
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Escalating Clashes in Serbia as Anti-Government Protests Spread Nationwide
The Drought in Britain and the Strange Request from the Government to Delete Old Emails
Category 5 Hurricane in the Caribbean: 'Catastrophic Storm' with Winds of 255 km/h
"No, Thanks": The Mathematical Genius Who Turned Down 1.5 Billion Dollars from Zuckerberg
The surprising hero, the ugly incident, and the criticism despite victory: "Liverpool’s defense exposed in full"
Digital Humans Move Beyond Sci-Fi: From Virtual DJs to AI Customer Agents
YouTube will start using AI to guess your age. If it’s wrong, you’ll have to prove it
×