Modern Milkman secures £2m investment

Colne-based online grocery service Modern Milkman has secured a £2.25m investment from Praetura Ventures.

Modern Milkman was founded in 2018 by Simon Mellin, who had previously worked with grocery brands such as HelloFresh, with the commitment to make a positive impact on the planet and revolutionise convenience shopping.

It now operates 19 hubs across England, with another office in Lille, France, and works with independent suppliers and farmers to deliver grocery products, including eggs, yogurt and bakery items to fruit and vegetables.

The company uses intelligent data and analytics to map out milk rounds, assess demand and reduce carbon emissions. The business works closely with decision intelligence firm Peak AI, another Praetura Ventures portfolio company, to combine information, such as shelf-life dates, customer ordering patterns and warehouse data to ensure customers receive deliveries on time with minimum waste in the supply chain.

Simon Mellin, founder and CEO of Modern Milkman, added: “As a business proud of our Northern roots we’re thrilled to have secured the support of Praetura Ventures for the next phase of our journey. We’re excited by the opportunity to collaborate and learn from them and their impressive portfolio of tech businesses as we continue on our objective to achieve the scale and consumer loyalty we need to realise our vision to reset our throwaway society.”

Praetura’s investment is part of Modern Milkman’s wider fundraising plans and will support the business’ ongoing scaling and sustainability efforts, which have so far seen the company save over 46.5m plastic bottles. The deal takes the total number of businesses in the Praetura Ventures portfolio to 28, with Modern Milkman joining other successful tech businesses such as XR Games, SteamaCo, Orka, Sparkbox and Fluid.work.

David Foreman, managing director of Praetura Ventures, said: “We are far from alone in our admiration of Modern Milkman, which has grown at a highly impressive pace and is now eyeing global expansion. As well as the company’s unique and innovative approach to the grocery sector, what attracted us are its highly authentic sustainability pledges and plans to significantly curb plastic use.

"The business and its founder Simon represent a new generation of Northern businesses, that are transcending sectors and putting the region at the forefront of UK innovation.”