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Plant Based News

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We raise awareness about ethical consumerism, sustainability, and the vegan lifestyle.

229%
 - 
Funded 6 Oct 2021
£500,000 target
£1,152,175 from 364 investors
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Business overview

Location London, United Kingdom
Social media
Website plantbasednews.org/
Sectors Content & Information Digital Mixed B2B/B2C
Company number 10638129
Incorporation date 24 Feb 2017
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Investment summary

Type Equity
Valuation (pre-money) £7.5M
Equity offered 13.26%
Tax relief

EIS

Co investor Veg Capital

Veg Capital provides early-stage capital to companies striving to replace the use of animals in the food system.

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Business highlights

  • A leading online platform in the growing plant-based space
  • 70M impressions per month with over 2.4M social media followers
  • Revenue increase year on year: 85% for Feb 2020-2021*
  • Underpinned by world-class creative / design agency
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Key features

  • No Secondary Market
  • Nominee investment min. £25.00 +

Idea

Introduction

Plant Based News (PBN) is a mission-led media company creating awareness about ethical consumerism, conscious living, sustainability, and the vegan lifestyle. We work to educate, entertain and inform. We report on all things vegan (news and lifestyle) and truly believe the world would be a greener, kinder and healthier place if more people switched to a plant-based diet.

Our website plantbasednews.org is one of the leading plant-based online platforms. According to google search console, it obtained 23.6M search impressions over the last quarter.

Each month, we reach over 70m+ impressions across our platform (including social media channels); as well as over 2.4m social followers.

Our platform is underpinned by a design agency that provides us with the ability to create original media for our platform and other organisations in the space.

Substantial accomplishments to date

Plant Based News was incorporated in February 2017 and the founding team has invested heavily in growing the audience in the first few years of operations. We are one of the leading plant-based portals of choice in providing consumers with access to leading experts, intelligence, and content on all things related to a plant-based lifestyle.

We have a global footprint, reaching over 70+ million impressions with more than 40% of our audience-driven from the US. Our social reach is robust across all social media platforms. We are unique in that our platform is underpinned by a design agency that provides us with the ability to create original and bespoke content/media and distribute it across all our social channels.

Revenue increase year on year: 85% for Feb 2020- Feb 2021*

Our first-quarter revenues of £229K* for the current year together with our sales pipeline, we aim to deliver our aggressive revenue targets over the next few years. But, investment into our core team and overall company infrastructure are required.

*Based on unaudited management accounts.

Monetisation strategy

We derive income from four core revenue streams: core advertising, client advertising, affiliate marketing and creative services.

We earn core advertising revenue from adverts before youtube videos (youtube adsense revenue), programmatic adverts in articles on our website (including via google amp and facebook instant articles) and adverts before and during facebook videos (as well as facebook stars).

Client advertising revenue is earned when organisations engage us for above the line and below the line marketing. We provide a full suite of services including production and distribution. We monetise content across platforms (both PBN and influencers in the space via influencer marketing) and use industry standard CPM’s to determine the value of each slot.

While affiliate marketing and creative services are smaller drivers of our income, we expect these to grow and be supplemented with new revenue streams including content syndication to third parties including to streaming brands.

Use of proceeds

Funds will be used for the following:

Website / platform and capex: Linked to website development, mobile app development, and other digital products (including a lead magnet to increase / grow our email list).

Tech spend: Spend associated with applications used to manage the online and social media presence of the business.

Marketing: Paid ads selectively used on some content. And a modest PR retainer to market PBN in mainstream outlets.

Recruitment of staff: Recruitment of individuals, including an associate creative director.

Working capital management: Maintain sufficient cash flow to meet short term goals and obligations.

Key Information

Outstanding debt

The company has a Bounce Back loan of £50,000, interest-free for 12 months, and 2.5% thereafter. This is to be repaid over 59 monthly installments starting in March 2022. None of the funds raised will be used to repay this loan.

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If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

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Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Only shareholders can access this page

If you successfully purchase a share lot of this business, you will be granted access.

Buy shares

Investing involves risks, including loss of capital, illiquidity, lack of dividends and dilution, and should be done only as part of a diversified portfolio. Please read the Risk Warnings before investing. Investments should only be made by investors who understand these risks. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future.

This webpage has been approved as a financial promotion by Seedrs Limited (trading as Republic Europe) ("Republic Europe"), which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority with firm reference number 550317. It is not intended to be a promotion of any individual investment opportunity and is not an offer to the public. The summary information provided about investment opportunities on this webpage is intended solely to demonstrate the types of investments available on the Republic Europe platform, and any investment decision should be made on the basis of the full campaign. Full campaigns are available to investors who have become authorised to invest on the Republic Europe platform. All investment activities take place within the United Kingdom, and any person resident outside the United Kingdom should ensure that they are not subject to any local regulations before investing.

Republic Europe does not make investment recommendations to you. No communications from Republic Europe, through this website or any other medium, should be construed as an investment recommendation. Further, nothing on this website shall be considered an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security to any person in any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. Republic Europe does not provide legal, financial or tax advice of any kind. If you have any questions with respect to legal, financial or tax matters relevant to your interactions with Republic Europe, you should consult a professional adviser.

Tax Relief (SEIS)

This business is eligible for SEIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 50% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Tax Relief (EIS)

This business is eligible for EIS relief - providing qualifying investors with income tax relief of 30% of their investment and certain other tax reliefs. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and is subject to change in future. Click to learn more.

Valuation (pre-money)

Valuation rounded from £7,500,000

This is the fully-diluted pre-money valuation of the business (i.e. before the new investment comes in and including issued options and other equity interests). In contrast, the post-money valuation is based on inclusion of the new investment in the value.

It is calculated as the pre-money valuation plus the amount of new investment. e.g. If Company A is ascribed a pre-money valuation of £1,200,000 by prospective investors investing £300,000, its post-money valuation is £1,500,000.

The investee business is responsible for setting its own valuation, it has not been prescribed by Seedrs.

Pitch type

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Equity Offered

The equity offered is the percentage of the company’s shares being issued in return for the amount of investment raised.

When the amount raised is less than 100%, the equity offered is based on the target raise. Once the company has raised over 100% it is based on the total raised.

In some scenarios, entrepreneurs may accept additional direct investment after closing their Seedrs campaign. Provided this is within 6 months of the closing and on the same terms, we do not typically offer pre-emption rights on that extra investment (where you have the opportunity to invest again to maintain your percentage shareholding).

Learn more about investing and pre-emption rights.

Nominee investment

This shows if you are able to choose, when making an investment, that you be represented by, and your shareholding be managed by, the Nominee investment.

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Custodian

If you invest in this Campaign, Seedrs will act as Custodian rather than provide our standard nominee service. This is due to the fact that the business is not directly involved in the share sale and Seedrs will not benefit from any rights under a shareholder agreement. As a result, Seedrs will handle administrative tasks as we do normally, but you will not have information or voting rights, updates from the business, preemption on future fundraising, or ongoing support about business trading activity.

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Secondary market

This shows if the business has opted-in or opted-out of allowing its shares to be bought and sold on the secondary market.

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Direct investment

This is an option to invest and hold shares 'directly' in the company (rather than via the Nominee investment). This option is only available to those investing over the threshold amount, which is determined by the fundraising company.

If you choose to hold your shares directly, you will be responsible for any contractual or administrative arrangements with the company you are investing in.

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Payment options

We are not able to accept card payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment by creating a bank transfer, using funds in your investment account or create a Pay by Bank payment. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Business Involvement

This Campaign offers shares for sale in business that is not directly involved in this Campaign or the sale. As a result, the Campaign and post-investment experience, including investor rights, will differ from a business-led campaign on Seedrs. Most notably, the business will not engage with investors in the discussion forums both during and after the sale or provide any updates to investors.

Learn more here

Payment options

We are not able to accept Pay by Bank payments for investments into this sector. You can pay for your investment with a card payment, by creating a bank transfer or by using funds in your investment account. Your investment will only be completed once the funds have reached our account.

Drawdowns

This campaign offers the ability to pay for an investment by drawdowns.

Security Token

A security token is a digital asset that represents ownership or other rights. It is a digital form of traditional investments. In the future, you may be able to trade your investment through compatible exchanges.

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