Heura receives €20 million in financing from the European Investment Bank

BarcelonaThe start-up The plant-based protein company Heura has closed a €20 million loan with the European Investment Bank (EIB) that should allow the Catalan company to maintain growth and achieve operational profitability by the end of this year, as jointly announced on Monday by Marc Coloma, CEO and co-founder of Heura, and Aless'androequity, growth and project finance from the EIB.

Coloma also announced that Heura closed 2024 with a turnover "similar" to that of 2023, of around 38 million euros. However, it reduced its global losses "to less than half," according to a company statement, thanks to the exit from several markets, improved margins, and improved efficiency in the distribution chain. According to ARA with data from the Commercial Registry, the vegetable protein company lost around 18.5 million euros in Spain in 2023.

Furthermore, after signing the loan agreement with the EIB, Hiedra's CEO explained to the press on Monday that in recent years the company has rethought its strategy with an eye toward achieving operating profitability in the fourth quarter of this year, the period it sets as the deadline for achieving EBIT. "Our priority is profitability," Coloma stated.

In this sense, Heura has focused its expansion primarily on Spain, its most established market, and on Portugal, France, and Italy: "We remain focused on southern Europe," he noted. In contrast, the company has reduced its presence in three other European markets it had previously focused on, such as the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Austria. Coloma asserted that the withdrawal from these countries "has had no impact" on the company's workforce. start-up, which has around sixty employees, most of them located in the new headquarters in Barcelona's 22@ district.

In January, the company introduced a chicken-style vegetable burger and sirloin, expanding the total number of products available in Spanish supermarkets to around 15. For now, Coloma explained that they are in the "initial stages" of closing new agreements with supermarkets and companies in the large-scale distribution sector in France, Italy, and Portugal, while in the Spanish market they already have more agreements with large chains, such as Carrefour, Ametller Origen, and Bon Preu, among others.

European loan

The loan signed with the EIB is intended to finance Hiedra's research activities alone, which are one of the company's pillars of growth. The 20 million euros—from the European Union's InvestEU program—will allow, in Coloma's words, "to continue innovating" in the field of plant protein and meat-based food substitutes. This influx of funds from the European financial institution will be "a very important component" of the company's investment in research and development. start-up the next five years.

The loan is an instrument created by the EIB itself for technology companies that operate in sectors that require a lot of research. According to Izzo, with this type of loan the EIB wants to "help innovation and the development of sustainable technologies in Europe," and in such a way that "the growth of European companies continues with European investors."

The loan format is "very flexible," since it does not require immediate or constant payments, but rather has a duration of "a fairly long term," noted the EIB executive, who did not give exact details of the financing conditions. The difference between the EIB loan and other common loans in the world of start-ups offered by private financial companies is that, although part of the loan will be repaid by converting it into shares, it will be a "very small" capital increase for Iedra and will not dilute the stakes of current shareholders.

"We are investors [in Iedra] because we will share the financial risk," said Izzo, but the EIB's policy is not to accumulate stakes in companies, but rather to promote their growth. In this sense, the European body considers that "the new bioeconomy sector is key," he added. With this investment, the EIB increases its portfolio in the innovation sector in Catalonia, where it has already closed similar transactions with the satellite company Sateliot and the electric motorcycle manufacturer Stark.