CPE News (4.9.2024) – Fonds de solidarité FTQ is investing $5 million in Oatbox, a Canadian leader in food products and ingredients made from Canadian oats.
New funding will be used to fuel the company’s growth.
Founded by Marc-Antoine Bovet and Pierre-Luc Laparé, Montréal based Oatbox is a Canadian leader in products made from Canadian oats: oat beverages, granola, overnight oats, oatmeal and bars. The company operates its own oat processor. Oatbox products are available in over 600 outlets, including most of the country’s major grocery chains. In addition to its Oatbox-branded products, its Saint-Damase plant produces a liquid oat base for other companies.
Oatbox has been backed by family offices, private and strategic investors.
Oatbox raised $1.55 million in seed funding from a group of private investors in April 2017 and $7 million in November 2021.
photo credit: Oatbox
News Release
Fonds de solidarité FTQ Invests $5 Million in Oatbox
Oatbox recently transformed its business model and inaugurated a new plant
MONTRÉAL, April 9, 2024 /CNW/ – The Fonds de solidarité FTQ is investing $5 million in Oatbox, a Canadian leader in food products and ingredients made from Canadian oats. The cash infusion will be used to fuel the company’s growth.
“The support of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ is a real vote of confidence in Oatbox. We have great respect for the Fonds’ partner companies and feel like we’re joining a big family. For a company like ours, which is just beginning to realize its tremendous potential, having a prominent investor like the Fonds de solidarité FTQ boosts our credibility with our business partners and will help speed up growth,” said Oatbox co-founder and president Marc-Antoine Bovet.
“We’re very proud to add a budding company like Oatbox to our agrifood portfolio. With its ambitious long-term vision, the company is well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in a growing market,” said Patrice Jolivet, Vice-President, Private Equity and Impact Investing – Agrifood and Health, at the Fonds de solidarité FTQ. Since its inception in 1983, the Fonds has invested over $1.3 billion in the Québec agrifood sector.
Oatbox was founded in Montréal in 2014, initially specializing in direct sales of dry oat-based products such as granola, oatmeal, overnight oats and bars. In 2021, the company took a big step forward by investing nearly $10 million in a new plant to produce a liquid oat base that is not only used for its own line of oat beverages but that is marketed as a premium ingredient to other food processors looking to develop oat-based dairy alternatives.
Introduced on the market in June 2023, the Original oat beverage fortified with vitamins and minerals and the Barista oat beverage made to froth in hot beverages such as coffee can now be found in over 600 outlets. The latter walked away with the prize for best juice and beverage at the 2023 CTAQ (Food Processing Council of Québec) Food Innovation Awards.
That same year, Oatbox also won the Prix Relève Alimentaire Québec, recognizing the scale and importance of an oat base manufacturing plant in Québec, which enables Oatbox and other companies to offer oat products to a burgeoning market.
Since Oatbox products are derived from sustainable agriculture, this investment is in line with the Fonds’ goal to reach $12 billion in sustainable assets by 2027.
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About the Fonds de solidarité FTQ
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ is a source of pride in Québec, fulfilling its mission through a unique business model created 40 years ago. Since then, the Fonds has rallied Québec into action thanks to the retirement savings of 769,459 shareholders.
With net assets of $18.9 billion as at November 30, 2023, the Fonds supports more than 3,700 companies through venture and development capital investments based on the belief that impact is created as much by financial as social returns. For more information, visit fondsftq.com or our company page on LinkedIn.
About Oatbox
Founded in 2014 in Montréal, Oatbox™ is a Canadian leader in products made from Canadian oats: oat beverages, granola, overnight oats, oatmeal and bars. The company operates its own oat processor. Oatbox products are available in over 600 outlets, including most of the country’s major grocery chains. In addition to its Oatbox-branded products, its Saint-Damase plant produces a liquid oat base for other companies. For more information, visit oatbox.com and oatbox-group.com.
SOURCE Fonds de solidarité FTQ
For further information: Press contact: Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Patrick McQuilken, Senior Advisor, Media Relations, 514 703-5587, pmcquilken@fondsftq.com; Oatbox, Hélène Macquart, 438 924-1688, helene@oatbox.com