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Butternut Box
Putting the food back into dog food
- 201-500 employees
- B2C
- Food
- Pets
- Wellbeing
- eCommerce
- Shepherd's Bush, London, UK
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Company mission
Butternut Box is on a mission to deliver health and happiness to dogs and their humans all over the world.
Our take
Nowadays, consumers are not only getting more fussy about what they eat, but also what their pets eat. Butternut Box caters to this trend for the 11 million pet dogs in the UK, with dishes cooked with fresh ingredients and portioned according to the dog's breed, weight, sex and exercise routine.
Butternut Box’s platform uses computer algorithms to work out the individual needs of each dog, bringing technological innovation to a market that has not seen much of it. With the UK dog food industry worth over £1.5 billion, there is a massive potential market for the company, before even considering international growth.
In order to expand its appeal, Butternut Box has been diversifying its products to include environmentally conscious food, treats and wellness products and services for dogs. Having already launched into a few European markets, the company has acquired Polish fresh dog food company PsiBufet to help extend its operations in Central and Eastern Europe, whilst 2023's substantial VC round will help it to build on its already impressive momentum.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Benefits
- Butternut Discount - Many of our squad have a special dog(s) in their lives; so we are delighted to offer a generous discount so that more dogs can enjoy Butternut and live healthier & happier lives
- Career Progression - We're a fast-moving start up that likes to watch its people grow
- Enhanced Parental Leave - Leave is available for expecting parents, regardless of their tenure, including for adopting parents
- Holidays - We offer above statutory leave days in every location (excluding bank holidays) and an extra day for every year at Butternut
- Pension
- Donations and regular volunteering with our chosen charity partners
Company values
- Dedicated and Determined: We work hard together to make things happen (tail wags are at a max)
- Open and Honest: Dogs are our best friends and relationships are built on trust
- Genuine Care: We want to leave dogs and humans smiling after every interaction
- Strive for Better: We believe dogs deserve better
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Sep 2023
$353.8m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Aug 2021
$50.6m
SERIES D
Total funding: $455.9m
This company has top investors
Leadership
Kevin Glynn
(Co-founder)Previously an Associate at Goldman Sachs.
David Nolan
(Co-founder)Previously a Trader at Goldman Sachs.
People progressing
Joined as a Marketing Executive, before switching over to the Product teams. Hannah has been promoted a number of times and is now Head of Digital Product (Customer).
Marcus joined the squad in 2018 as a Sales Team Lead, after which he was promoted to Sales Manager before shifting over to our marketing teams as a Commercial Analyst. Now leading the space as the Commercial Lead.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Butternut Box
- We know that we need to listen more, learn more, do more, change more. We all need to do better.
- Examine - In order for us to know where we needed and wanted to get to, we needed to take stock and take account of where we were at. So, in May 2020, we launched Butternut’s first Diversity & Inclusion report. We now send a survey to all employees every 6 months covering 14 different topics.
- Unlearn & relearn - Over the past year, we’ve worked with external training providers, such as The Other Box to not only learn from them but to understand how to actively unlearn from them too. The whole Squad attended different half-day workshops on allyship in the workplace, bias awareness, and one on inclusive language too, as well as attending talks led by some really inspiring voices from different lived experiences and backgrounds.
- Ally Network - In September 2020, the Butternut Ally Network was founded. The Ally Network exists to support, champion and listen to every single voice within the company and as well as communities beyond Butternut too. The group is made up of 25 Squad members (including Kev & Dave) who meet monthly to challenge us all to strive for better when it comes to inclusion and educating ourselves on experiences outside of our own.
- Recruitment - In the last year we've focussed on our hiring processes to make sure they are as inclusive and supportive of diverse candidates. We've increased and diversified our job boards to reach a wider pool of candidates. We’ve changed how we communicate with candidates to make sure that each person feels comfortable to discuss neurodiversity or other disabilities upfront. Each hiring manager receives in-depth training on interview bias now too.
- Accessibility - We've turned on Accessibee on our website as well as introducing certain tools to our Squad like Loom and Grammarly. Being accessible encapsulates a load of criteria, including descriptions of images for screen readers, how navigable our website is without using a mouse, is it suited to people with colour blindness too!
- We know we have a long way to go to drive the change we want to see but we really do mean the words we wrote. This is us listening more, learning more, doing more, changing more. And we’re only getting started
Articles
Endorsements
All
Challenging work (2)
Intelligent people (2)
Opportunities to learn (1)
Meaningful work (1)
Nice people (1)
Hard working team (1)
Open and honest communication (1)
Great work is recognised (1)
Team energy (1)
Clear values (1)
Within the first month of joining, I was given the opportunity to contribute to our rebuild of the homepage. Even though at present I've only been in the company for a few months, I've been encouraged to work on big projects which has empowered me to learn rapidly about different parts of the codebase. My manager is also incredibly supportive and always makes time to support my learning through pairing.
Software Engineering
Opportunities to learn
Jul 2021
At Butternut Box, we celebrate achievements and contributions via a #kudos channel on Slack as well as shoutouts being given during the company Monday meeting to recognise team member's great work. My manager is always quick to give recognition to my work either via the #kudos channel, during our 1:1s or in our retro meetings, which makes me feel really motivated and encouraged.
Software Engineering
Great work is recognised
Jul 2021
The company has such a positive, motivated and strong team energy. The entire squad are just such a fun bunch, there's always a great laugh at company socials (whether remote or in person), and it's really lovely to work at a company with such awesome team energy.
Software Engineering
Team energy
Jul 2021
We talk about our values all the time. They are part of our onboarding (session delivered by Dave, co-founder) and every Monday we give kudos to people who demonstrated our values in the work they have done. I think values are most clear & reliable in difficult situations - we don't shy away from our values when making tough decisions.
People, HR, Recruitment
Clear values
Jul 2021
It's a joy to work with super smart & empathetic people. Everyone is supportive and keen to share their knowledge & experiences. Often you can have very smart people who are arrogant and work in silos - not at Butternut. I've learnt heaps from my team members and am proud of our supportive culture.
People, HR, Recruitment
Intelligent people
Jul 2021
We are growing quickly at Butternut which means the processes & projects we worked on 1 month ago won't work in the next 3 months. We are constantly facing challenges as we grow - but that's very exciting. It forces us all to develop and grow as Butternut does the same.
People, HR, Recruitment
Challenging work
Jul 2021
So long as you use your initiative, you will always have things to do. Butternut Box is open to innovation, ready and willing to hear any idea out.
Design
Challenging work
Jul 2021
There couldn't be a friendlier workforce. Everyone loves their jobs (or maybe just the cute office dogs!) and as a result, they greet each day with smiles and a readiness to work.
Design
Nice people
Jul 2021
No one at Butternut Box is a slacker. Everyone is self-motivated and determined to do their best for the company. If you like working hard, this is the place to be.
Design
Hard working team
Jul 2021
Everyone I work with is on top of it. No problem is unsolvable when you have a team like ours. I love that I can rely on my colleagues, and learn from them.
Product
Intelligent people
Jul 2021
Open and honest communication is genuinely something everyone cares about at Butternut. We don't leave things unsaid, and feel comfortable with sharing what's on our mind. Everyone really cares about transparency across teams.
Product
Open and honest communication
Jul 2021
I got to know Butternut because we were struggling to find the right food for our dog (who has a sensitive tummy), and now that he's on Butternut he's never been healthier! I love working here knowing that we're genuinely taking care of dogs and making their humans happy along the way.
Product
Meaningful work
Jul 2021
