Feeding growth with tailored private credit
How Butternut Box secured €75M to scale manufacturing in Europe.
“Our mission has always been to get more dogs eating the fresh food they deserve. Partnering with Liquidity will help us continue that mission by ensuring we are well positioned to support our existing markets, whilst helping to deliver health and happiness to even more dogs across Europe.”
OVERVIEW
For Butternut Box, Europe’s leading fresh dog food brand and a certified B Corp, rapid growth brought a welcome challenge: the need to scale production capacity to meet booming demand across six countries.
Following a large equity round, Butternut Box sought a financing partner to fuel expansion without further diluting ownership. The answer was a €75M (£64M+) debt financing facility from Liquidity. The deal highlights how Liquidity’s non-dilutive private credit facilities work in tandem with top-tier equity to help late-stage startups build the infrastructure they need to dominate their category.
THE CHALLENGE: INFRASTRUCTURE FOR A PET FOOD REVOLUTION
Since 2016, Butternut Box has been on a mission to deliver health and happiness to dogs through fresh, human-quality meals. Having raised over £380M since inception, the company is a confirmed market leader. However, feeding hundreds of thousands of pets requires significant operational scale. To continue their trajectory, Butternut Box needed to:
- Refinance existing debt: A facility to fully refinance an existing debt
- Expand manufacturing: Construct four new state-of-the-art production lines in Poland to serve the European market efficiently.
- Preserve equity: Utilise capital efficiently by funding hard assets (manufacturing capabilities) with debt rather than selling more ownership.
- Move fast: Secure a partner who understands the velocity of a high-growth consumer brand.
The Goal: Solidify market leadership in Europe by refinancing existing debt and support the launch of new production lines to drive growth for new products.
THE SOLUTION: NON-DILUTIVE, TAILORED DEBT
Liquidity recognised Butternut Box’s strong fundamentals and clear vision. Its fusion of breakthrough ML-powered underwriting and expert financial minds meant Liquidity could move quickly to structure a substantial debt facility that complemented the company's existing equity backing.
The deal structure:
- Amount: €75M (£64M+) in debt financing.
- Purpose: Refinance existing debt and support the development of four new production lines in Poland.
- Strategic fit: The facility provided fast, flexible and non-dilutive access to capital, ideal for a late-stage company pivoting from pure growth to operational dominance.
THE IMPACT: A FOUNDATION FOR FUTURE GROWTH
With Liquidity’s capital secured, Butternut Box can execute its physical expansion plans immediately.
“Liquidity moves at speed. We received a formal term sheet in a matter of weeks. Their approach is open, collaborative and ultimately geared towards driving a positive outcome for us. We've landed on the sweet spot of cost and flexibility which is ideal for us at this stage in our growth.”
– Ed Carey, CFO, Butternut Box
Key outcomes:
- Operational expansion: The 4 new production lines have increased production capacity, ensuring the company is able to meet demand across Europe and the UK.
- Category growth: The strengthened infrastructure supported broader initiatives, including the rollout of Marro, Butternut Box’s new fresh cat food brand.
- Mission fulfillment: By removing production bottlenecks, Butternut Box can focus on its B Corp mission: donating meals to dogs in need and improving pet health across Europe and the UK.
CAPITAL THAT THINKS AHEAD
This facility was Liquidity’s 10th significant deal in Europe in just a 12-month period, building on steady momentum helping UK and European founders scale with confidence across diverse markets.
Complementing equity with debt
High-growth companies don’t have to rely solely on venture capital; debt is a strategic tool for late-stage startups wanting to retain ownership and vision. By layering debt on top of equity, Butternut Box was able to optimise its capital stack while maintaining full control over its strategic business decisions.
Speed and flexibility
Building production lines to meet the demands of a growing business cannot wait for slow banking decisions. Liquidity’s ML-driven underwriting and expert financial minds delivered a term sheet in 7+ days, ensuring Butternut Box’s expansion plans stayed on schedule.
Alignment with mission
Liquidity backs companies that change the world. Partnering with a B Corp like Butternut Box underscores a commitment to supporting businesses that prioritise purpose alongside profit.
REDEFINE YOUR MARKET WITH LIQUIDITY
Liquidity invests in visionary growth and mid-market companies around the world, deploying from $10 million to $200 million in flexible, tailored capital designed to scale in step with vision and ambition. Is your business ready to lead the market?
Scale globally with liquidity
Liquidity invests in visionary growth and mid-market companies around the world, deploying from $10 million to $200 million in flexible, tailored capital designed to accelerate growth.
We partner with founders to unlock ambition. Get in touch to find out more.
Serve over 100 million meals annually.
Fresh dog food supplier
