The Aussie Plant Based Co

About The Aussie Plant Based Co

Aussie Plant Based Co, previously Fenn Foods, is the creator of plant-based meat alternative foods in Australia. Founded in 2018 by award-winning chef, Alejandro Cancino, Fenn created and brought to market a series of plant-based meat alternatives. Their flagship brand, vEEF, is distributed Australia-wide through large retailers like Coles and Woolworths and used in a range of food offerings like Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon.

Why did you apply for a loan with Kashcade?

We were working towards our merger with Love BUDS, which would create The Aussie Plant Based Co. Ahead of the merger, we wanted to raise some capital to ensure the company was in an even stronger position prior to the transaction. We were raising some equity capital but didn’t want to dilute shareholders more than necessary.

With our company investing a significant amount into research and development each year, we expected to receive a future R&D rebate. But with how busy things were, we were a while away from being ready to lodge our tax return and therefore receive our rebate.

Kashcade was known to us as they had funded various portfolio companies of one our investors, so we reached out to see if they could bring forward our R&D rebate in time for the merger.

What has funding from Kashcade enabled you to achieve?

Pre-funding our R&D rebate with Kashcade meant we didn’t have to raise more equity capital than necessary. That meant we were able to minimise the time we spent pitching and reduced the overall dilution our founding team and existing shareholders would face.

“Working with Alex was quick, efficient, and very professional. I recommend Kashcade and I wouldn’t hesitate to work with them in the future”

Alejandro Cancino, Co-Founder and CEO

What problem did Kashcade solve for your business?

Working towards a merger is a lot of work and takes up a lot of the management team’s time and headspace. This can be quite a distraction from managing the day-to-day activities that remain vital.

Kashcade helped us make fundraising as smooth as possible by providing funds after very little effort and in only a few days. It was the easiest capital we’ve ever raised.