Smileat raises a 1.8 M€ financing round led by Creas

smileat

Smileat, a leading Spanish company in organic baby food, closed last Friday a 1.8 M financing round. The capital increase operation has been led by Creas, with the participation of Quadia (with the mandate of Impact Investment of the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation), Tech Transfer Agrifood managed by Clave Capital and minority shareholders who have accompanied the project in all its phases, demonstrating their strong commitment to the Company.

The capital injection will be used to consolidate Smileat’s position as the leading Spanish organic baby food brand and to further increase its market share. The company is preparing a highly innovative new product launch in the third quarter of the year, which will reinforce both objectives. In addition, as part of its growth strategy, the company is committed to consolidating its growth in its main markets, Spain and Portugal, and to continuing to expand in other strategic international areas.

The incorporation of the three new partners -Creas, Quadia and Clave Capital’s Tech Transfer Agrifood- reinforces the Company’s strategy to place sustainability and technology at the center of the business value equation and its vocation to form part of a network of business partners with the same vision and DNA to achieve a more sustainable society that is committed to a balance between social and ecological development. To complement this vision, Didier Surberbielle, former President of Nutrition and Sante and a leading expert in sustainable food, has also joined the Board.

2020 has been a very satisfactory year in terms of sustainability, and after months of research and review of all packaging, a complete conversion to sustainable, compostable and/or recyclable packaging has been carried out, positioning the company as the first baby food company to achieve this. 

The company broke even in 2020 on the back of sustained growth two years after a 700K capital increase.

Smileat, which recently reported 2020 results, closed the year with a turnover of 3.2 million euros, representing a 14% increase in turnover compared to the previous year, despite the adverse context marked by the confinement and the financial crisis caused by the coronavirus. 

“The capital increase in this financing round is the definitive backing for the project. We are very excited to enter a new phase of the business plan, to strengthen our position as a leading national brand in Spain, to grow our digital presence through our e-commerce, to be always at the forefront in the development of an innovative portfolio of new products and to gain share in those international strategic areas marked in our roadmap”, says Alberto Jiménez San Mateo Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Smileat.

For Lara Viada, Creas’ Investment Director, “Smileat represents the opportunity to support a company that is leading a shift towards more sustainable and healthier food, a key focus for Creas due to its environmental and social impact. We have known the founders since their beginnings and are convinced of their commitment and their ability to continue innovating and growing.”  

Smileat’s success: a concept of sustainable, innovative, disruptive and digitally well-positioned entrepreneurship.

Smileat, was born in 2015 from the hand of two entrepreneurs, Alberto Jiménez San Mateo and Javier Quintana, who turned their commitment to the health and well-being of children into a new way of making baby food, thus revolutionizing the baby food segment in Spain. Today, six years later, the brand has 7 product families: jars, pouches, porridges, snacks and infusions and more than 30 references.

The success of its recipes has no secrets and the products are of the highest quality, made with raw materials from local Spanish organic agriculture and livestock farming. Smileat products are the lowest in sugar and salt in the market, with no thickeners, colorings, added sugar or salt. Smileat is a range of products easily found on any supermarket shelf.

Being a digital native brand, having a good online positioning and an operational e-commerce before the confinement has provided significant benefits, increasing its online sales by 177%, and the possibility of connecting with a new digital target that could continue to feed their babies without altering their feeding routines during the state of alarm.