Bird & Bird advises ECBF on € 9 million Series A financing in Vegdog

Munich — The Euro­pean Circu­lar Bioe­co­nomy Fund (ECBF) is leading the Series A finan­cing round of nine million euros for Vegdog. The ECBF is a private venture capi­tal fund dedi­ca­ted exclu­si­vely to the bioe­co­nomy and circu­lar economy. It invests in visio­nary Euro­pean entre­pre­neurs who are driving the tran­si­tion from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy. 

Vegdog was foun­ded in 2015 by Tessa Zaune-Figlar and Vale­rie Hens­sen and offers the first vegan, gluten-free and 100% complete dog food deve­lo­ped in colla­bo­ra­tion with specia­li­zed veterinarians.

The ECBF is inves­t­ing in Vegdog because of the company’s enorm­ous poten­tial to revo­lu­tio­nize the dog food market with sustainable and healthy solu­ti­ons. Vegdog is plan­ning growth rates of up to 80 percent in the coming years. The Vegdog team is set to double in size in 2025 in order to realize the plan­ned expan­sion into the entire DACH region as well as the Nether­lands and other Euro­pean count­ries in 2026. 

A signi­fi­cant part of the invest­ment comes from the ECBF toge­ther with the exis­ting inves­tor Green Gene­ra­tion Fund (GGF). Further capi­tal comes from the busi­ness angels Domi­ni­que Locher, Attollo S.A. and Andrea Sker­sies (The Nutri­ment Company, form­erly Zooplus). The invest­ment plat­form Select Alter­na­tive Invest­ments and the exis­ting share­hol­der SFO are also invol­ved in the finan­cing round. 

Mridul Pareek, Invest­ment Asso­ciate at ECBF, says: “Driven by an outstan­ding leader­ship team and a compel­ling mission, VEGDOG has quickly become a pioneer in plant-based dog food. We are exci­ted to support their Series A round and guide them on their jour­ney to create sustainable and posi­tive change in the indus­try. Bird & Bird was instru­men­tal in guiding us through the comple­xi­ties of this invest­ment and ensu­ring a smooth and successful closing for all parties involved.”

About ECBF

The Euro­pean Circu­lar Bioe­co­nomy Fund (ECBF) is the first venture capi­tal fund in Europe[1] dedi­ca­ted exclu­si­vely to the bioe­co­nomy and circu­lar economy. The ECBF was foun­ded in 2019 and focu­ses on Euro­pean and asso­cia­ted count­ries. Origi­nally plan­ned with a total volume of 250 million euros, the fund over­sub­scri­bed with a total volume of 300 million euros. As a later-stage inves­tor, the ECBF invests in growth compa­nies. As a rule, the ECBF invests between two million euros and 20 million euros in port­fo­lio compa­nies. — https://www.ecbf.vc

Advi­sor Euro­pean Circu­lar Bioe­co­nomy Fund: Bird & Bird
Coun­sel Andrea Schlote (Corpo­rate, Munich).

As a leading inter­na­tio­nal law firm, Bird & Bird is the part­ner for ever­yone who wants to defend and streng­then their super­powers. Thanks to our orig­ins in IP law, we under­stand the core of every company, the requi­re­ments of the market and compe­ti­tion and how to achieve sustainable success. We call it sector focus. And with this DNA, we are now your law firm for all legal issues rela­ting to tech­no­logy, digi­ta­liza­tion and regu­la­tion. With over 1,600 lawy­ers in 33 offices in 23 count­ries, we are repre­sen­ted in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Asia-Paci­­fic and Africa and main­tain close rela­ti­onships with law firms in other parts of the world. In Germany, we are repre­sen­ted by more than 280 lawy­ers in Düssel­dorf, Frank­furt, Hamburg and Munich. — www.twobirds.com.