The money will be used to fund its rapid growth in multiple markets and the growth of Tony’s Open Chain (its business-to-business ethical bean sourcing company). More bars and beans sold means more beans bought at a living income price, so more positive impact on the lives of cocoa farmers.
The full funding round is subject to regulatory approval in the Netherlands. As part of this round, a few existing shareholders will sell a small percentage of their stake.
Douglas Lamont, the Chief Chocolonely commented: “This investment will help us accelerate our progress towards our mission of ending exploitation in the cocoa industry. The funding will be used to support the rapid global growth we are delivering in both Tony’s Chocolonely, our chocolate business, and Tony’s Open Chain, our global business-to-business ethical bean trading company. I am delighted that all the funding was raised from within our existing shareholder base, who we know are all committed to supporting our long-term mission. With this new investment, with our governance structure and with our recently introduced Mission Lock we will all remain fully focused and committed to delivering on our mission to end exploitation in the cocoa industry.”