The healthy London based Artisan ice cream maker La Gelatiera, winner of two Golden Fork awards and four UK Top 50 Foods at Great Taste Awards, has raised £50,000 through issuing an innovative revenue loan product via Crowd2Fund.com.

The gelateria was co-founded by Antonia Parisi and Stephene Leyvraz, who grew bored of working in the corporate world, and is based on creations by Parisi’s Italian grandfather who made gelato in his home country. All ice creams are produced daily, using 100% natural ingredients, including un-homogenised organic Jersey Cow milk from dairies in Somerset. The campaign started a few months ago, with the aim of raising £40,000 to launch a second shop in London – and was met with enormous enthusiasm from investors, successfully hitting the target and even going beyond.

The funds raised will be used to launch and market the second London based shop, as well as increasing the size of the kitchen, and helping to scale up the business to serve growing demand business customers.

The company chose to seek financing through the crowd as it provided an opportunity to reach and engage with their enthusiastic customer base. Parisi says, “Raising the funds we needed to grow our business through Crowd2Fund was a fantastic experience. It allowed us to reach out to both our existing, and a new customer base. We now have a small army of brand advocates who have a vested interest in the success of La Gelatiera. They have been incredibly supportive on social media. Our initial plans post funding will now be to speed up our search for a second retail site within the Olympic Village area.”

La Gelatiera gelato is priced at £3.30 for a small cone, or £5.00 for a large. Alternatively, if you would like to take away more than just a delicious dessert, you can invest by visiting crowd2fund.com or calling 02037 355 690.

25/02/2016