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SimplyCook provides recipe kits delivering pre-portioned flavour blends and corresponding recipe cards. The service streamlines home cooking by supplying expertly curated combinations of spices, herbs, and sauces. Users integrate these with fresh ingredients, efficiently preparing diverse, restaurant-quality dishes, simplifying complex culinary efforts. This approach significantly reduces meal preparation time and the need for extensive ingredient sourcing, offering a convenient solution for daily cooking.
Oliver Ashness founded SimplyCook in 2014, leveraging his experience as an investment analyst. His insight addressed the common challenge of preparing diverse, flavourful home meals. He recognized difficulties in sourcing specific ingredients and mastering complex tastes, aiming to make authentic, adventurous cooking readily accessible. This foundational idea aimed to empower home cooks by removing common barriers to culinary exploration.
SimplyCook caters to individuals and families seeking varied, exciting meals at home with reduced effort. Its vision is to make globally inspired, delicious home cooking consistently accessible and enjoyable. The company empowers users to confidently explore new cuisines and expand their culinary repertoire, fostering adventurous, satisfying mealtime experiences that enrich their daily lives.
SimplyCook has raised $4.0M across 2 funding rounds.
SimplyCook has raised $4.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
SimplyCook has raised $4.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
SimplyCook's investors include Episode 1 Ventures.
SimplyCook is a London-based subscription service that delivers recipe kits—containing spice blends, sauces, and herbs developed by professional chefs—paired with simple 20-minute recipe cards, allowing users to create restaurant-quality meals using just 4-6 fresh ingredients from their regular grocery shop.[1][3][5] It targets busy home cooks seeking flavorful, affordable dinners without full meal kit hassles, solving issues of meal inspiration, cooking confidence, and cost by keeping meals at £2-£6 per person while avoiding fresh food logistics.[1][3] Founded in 2014, it raised $9.52M before being acquired by Nestlé in February 2021, shipping over 700,000 kits monthly at its peak and competing in the food & meal delivery space against Gousto and HelloFresh.[2][3]
SimplyCook was founded in 2014 by Oli Ashness, a former VC at DFJ Esprit, who conceived the idea while navigating a hectic London lifestyle that left little time for quality home cooking.[1][3] Frustrated by the time and expense of sourcing multiple ingredients for new recipes, Ashness developed the "you just add the fresh food" model to make flavorful meals accessible without deviating into costly fresh delivery.[1][3] The company launched shortly after, gaining early traction through its focus on high-quality flavor kits and quick recipes; it grew its team, secured £4.5M in Series A funding led by Octopus Investments, and scaled to ship over 700,000 kits monthly before Nestlé's 2021 acquisition.[2][3][4]
SimplyCook rides the meal kit and home cooking boom, accelerated by busy lifestyles, TV food culture, and post-COVID demand for convenient, waste-minimizing delivery—positioning it in the $1,530-company-strong food & meal delivery sector.[2][3] Its timing capitalized on consumers' desire for inspiration amid limited repertoires (most cook only 6 meals), while sidestepping fresh food perishability and high costs that plague rivals.[1] By blending e-commerce tech (subscriptions, scalable shipping) with chef expertise, it influences the ecosystem toward hybrid models—empowering "Britain cooking" with affordable discovery, now amplified under Nestlé's global reach.[2][3]
Post-2021 Nestlé acquisition, SimplyCook is poised to expand its subscription model globally, leveraging Nestlé's resources for new recipes, tech enhancements (e.g., personalized AI recommendations), and deeper grocery integrations amid rising living costs.[2][5] Trends like inflation-driven home cooking, sustainability (less waste), and flavor innovation will fuel growth, potentially evolving it into a platform blending physical kits with digital apps. As meal delivery matures, its lean differentiator could redefine accessibility, tying back to Ashness's vision of hassle-free, flavorful dinners for all.
SimplyCook has raised $4.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $3.0M Seed in July 2017.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2017 | $3.0M Seed | Episode 1 Ventures | |
| Apr 1, 2015 | $1.0M Seed | Episode 1 Ventures |