People’s Champion Finalist: Gousto

Start-up name: Gousto
Founders: Timo Schmidt & James Carter
Started in: 2012
Based in: London
Business description: Fresh and organic recipes and ingredients, delivered to your door  

Shortlisted categories:

Retail Business of the Year
Venture Funded Business of the Year
Young Entrepreneur of the Year

The Gousto story:

A familiar name to Startups readers having been a People’s Champion finalist last year and a second place Startups 100 company this year, Gousto delivers recipe boxes to time starved foodies with the exact ingredients they need to make quality meals.

Despite early rejection on Dragons’ Den, the start-up went on to secure £500,000 from food industry veterans and all but conquer the recipe box delivery market. So what’s different about Gousto? The company has capitalised on the seismic shift towards online and mobile grocery shopping – and unlike competitors, allows customers to choose from a range of recipes. What’s more, it claims to beat its rivals’ eight day average delivery time by five days and costs an estimated 15-20% less per meal. 

Founded by 2014 Young Guns Timo Schmidt and James Carter, Gousto has seen 100% growth in revenues every six months, and having raised $30m in capital from four VC funds – as well as additional investment from angels and other sources – the future looks bright.

Why Gousto made our 60: 

The Dragons should be kicking themselves that they didn’t invest in Gousto. On top of everything else the company has recently partnered with chef Theo Randall and has an app in beta version with Apple.

Where to find out more about Gousto:

Website: https://www.gousto.co.uk
Facebook: facebook.com/followgousto