VCT News
Beringea Invest in Tossed - The Healthier Eating Place
27 April 2010 - London - Tossed, the healthier eating group, has received £1.5m of development funding from international venture capital company Beringea.
Tossed's quirky and vibrant stores offer healthy, ethically sourced food without compromising on taste. As well as Tossed's signature tossed-to-order salads, smoothies, wraps and other freshly prepared foods are also on offer. Tossed is focused on delivering delicious, generously portioned dishes for all palates which are also healthy and nutritionally balanced.
Beringea's investment will support Tossed's plans for growth. Based in the Greater London area, Tossed currently has six sites - including stores on Tottenham Court Road, St Martin's Lane and the newly opened venue on Mortimer Street. The concept has proved extremely popular with a broad range of customers and the company looks forward to increasing the number of stores across the city.
Investment director Karen McCormick led the deal for Beringea and will be joining the Tossed board as a non-executive director.
Karen commented "We are delighted to be investing in Tossed. The company has been experiencing rapid profitable growth - a testament to the business acumen and enthusiasm of its founder and the commitment of its management team.
Tossed's offering has really captured a gap in the marketplace. Not only is the UK becoming an increasingly health conscious nation - but we are also increasingly demanding higher quality, better tasting, ethically sourced food. We believe Tossed has been able to capitalise on this and we look forward to working with Vincent and his team on the next stage of Tossed's development."
Tossed was founded in 2005 by Vincent Mckevitt - self proclaimed 'Salad Man and Top Tosser'.
Vincent commented "We are very excited about the next stage of the Tossed journey. From an idea set up fresh out of University to help Londoners be that little bit healthier, the funding from Beringea will now enable us to continue to develop the Tossed brand and to establish ourselves as the top healthy eating destination in the Capital."
Picked as 'The One to Watch' in the Courvoisier 'The Future 500' announced in January 2008, Vincent is among a selected number of professionals tipped to be leaders in their fields. At the awards, Vincent, then 28, was named as the latest shining light in the restaurant and food industry. He was then shortlisted by Growing Business magazine as one of just 30 'Young Guns' in October 2008 - the most outstanding crop of young entrepreneurs the UK has to offer - the only catering business to make it in the finals. In June 2009, he received the coveted Acorn award from Caterer & Hotelkeeper, given to high achievers under the age of 30. He was the only entrepreneur to receive such award. In March 2010 he was one of 30 finalists in the Square Mile '30 under 30' inaugural award, from over 1,000 entrants.
The funding will come from Beringea's ProVen VCT and ProVen Growth & Income VCT - two of the Venture Capital Trusts managed by Beringea. Through the ProVen VCTs Beringea has previously invested in a number of successful restaurant chains, including Coal Grill and Bar, Loch Fyne and Ma Potters.
About Beringea
Beringea is an international venture capital firm with offices in London and Detroit. In the UK Beringea manages ProVen VCT, ProVen Health VCT, ProVen Growth & Income VCT and Global Rights Fund II. Beringea launched its first VCT in 1996, making it one of the most experienced VCT managers in the UK. ProVen Growth & Income and ProVen VCT are highest performing VCTs of their launch years, respectively, according to www.taxefficientreview.com. For more information please visit www.provenvcts.co.uk.