Butternut Box fetches over €75M from Liquidity to become Europe’s next pet food unicorn

Dog owners often struggle to find convenient, nutritious, and personalised meal options. Traditional dog food tends to be highly processed, lacks transparency, and fails to meet specific dietary needs. Butternut Box solves this problem by delivering fresh, human-grade, customised dog meals directly to customers’ doors through a subscription service, enhancing nutrition, transparency, and convenience for pet owners.
Today, this European leader in fresh dog food announced securing over €75M in debt financing fromLiquidity. The funding will strengthen Butternut Box’s market-leading position in Europe by developing a second manufacturing facility in Poland, advancing its mission to deliver health and happiness to dogs through fresh meals.
The new 40,000-square-meter production facility in CTPark Zabrze, Poland, will begin operations by mid-2025, creating hundreds of jobs. Its strategic location near the A1/A4 motorways enables swift distribution to Germany and mainland Europe. Following Butternut Box’s 2023 acquisition of PsiBufet, Poland’s leading fresh dog food company, this expansion accelerates the company’s growth in Central Europe. CEODavid Nolannoted, “Production here lets us deliver fresh food faster to hundreds of thousands of dogs in Germany and mainland Europe.”
Since its inception, Butternut Box has raised over £380m, including a recent £280m investment fromGeneral AtlanticandL Catterton. The company is approaching unicorn status with a valuation near £500m — a testament to its scalable, tech-driven model and strong investor confidence.
FriendsKevin Glynnand David Nolan founded Butternut Box in London in 2016. The inspiration came when Dave’s rescue dog, Rudie, showed remarkable health improvements after switching from commercial dog food to fresh, home-cooked meals. Their mission became clear: provide health and happiness to dogs and their owners worldwide.
Rudie’s story inspired the company’s founding and the name of its flagship UK facility, Rudie’s Kitchen. The facility now produces over 8 million meals annually. The company ensures nutrition and taste by testing all recipes with in-house dogs.
Frustrated by the lack of healthy, transparent, and convenient dog food options, they set out to deliver fresh, human-grade, personalised meals directly to customers’ homes, aiming to foster health and happiness for dogs and their owners everywhere.
“Our mission has always been to get more dogs eating the fresh food they deserve,” remarked Kevin Glynn, co-founder of Butternut Box. “Partnering with Liquidity will help us continue that mission by ensuring we are well-positioned to support our existing markets while also delivering health and happiness to even more dogs across Europe.”
“Butternut Box has positioned itself as a leading provider of fresh pet food through an unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and growth,” statedRon Daniel, Co-Founder & CEO of Liquidity. “Liquidity is the perfect partner for late-stage startups seeking fast, flexible, and non-dilutive access to capital. Therefore, we take pride in supporting Butternut Box as they aim to increase their market presence by expanding manufacturing capacity in EMEA for ongoing growth.”
Butternut Box now serves hundreds of thousands of dogs across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Poland, and it plans to expand further. In 2024, the company entered the cat food market with Marro, a fresh cat food brand. By leveraging its existing infrastructure, the company is tapping into the $12B global cat food industry and diversifying its revenue streams.
Butternut Box uses only high-quality, human-grade ingredients — no mystery meats, fillers, or artificial preservatives. While competitors typically use high-heat processing, Butternut Box cooks meals at low temperatures (below 90°C) to preserve nutrients and flavour.
Each meal plan is tailored to the dog’s age, weight, activity level, and dietary needs, offering customisation that surpasses traditional one-size-fits-all pet foods. The menu features over 10 recipes, including grain-free, vegetarian, and high-meat-content options (at least 60% meat in all recipes), catering to picky eaters and dogs with specific dietary requirements.
Pre-portioned meals arrive directly at customers’ doors through a subscription service, ensuring hassle-free feeding and preventing over- or underfeeding. The company maintains transparency about sourcing and production, building trust with pet owners who want clarity about their dogs’ food.
Butternut Box holds BRCGS AA+ certification, the highest food safety standard, and earned B Corp status in 2022 for its commitment to social and environmental responsibility. Its facilities embrace sustainability through recyclable packaging and advanced waste management, reducing landfill waste by 30%.
In 2024, women at Butternut Box earned on average12.4% morethan men, reversing the previous year’s gap and reflecting increased female representation in higher pay quartiles. The companytargets40% diversity in first-round interviews, conducts annual DE&I training, and supports initiatives like Codebar to attract diverse talent.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) form the core of the company’s culture, with annual workshops covering LGBTQ+ terminology, Black history, and mental health. The company employs over 750 people across the UK and Europe, with over 70 promotions last year. It emphasises fair pay, inclusive hiring, and structured career progression. A strong90% of teammembers report feeling part of the squad, demonstrating genuine belonging and inclusion.
As co-founder David Nolan says, “We’re just at the starting line” — a nod to the vast potential in fresh pet food, where Butternut Box continues to lead the pack with innovation, ethics, and a genuine passion for pets.