COOPER PARRY ADVISES SESSIONS ON £7.4m FUNDING DEAL

Drawing on its expert knowledge of the early-stage funding landscape, Cooper Parry’s Tech & High Growth team has added another successful deal to its growing tally.

Cooper Parry’s Tech & High Growth team advised the management team of Sessions Market Limited on a £7.4m funding package led by Guinness Asset Management, a leading scale-up fund alongside existing investors including Perscitus, Imbiba and several family office funds.

Founded in 2019 by Dan Warne, the former Managing Director of Deliveroo UK, Sessions now plans to roll out itself proven food hall concept in 2022 as well as launching the Sessions Studio scheme. This is designed to pair aspiring food founders with world-class culinary support through both physical and virtual spaces supported by a digital platform.

Using a capitally efficient, hybrid physical and digital model, Sessions is revolutionising the £100bn restaurant market in the UK. It’s helping independent restaurant and food entrepreneurs accelerate the growth of their brands through a readymade, cross-channel platform, encompassing both virtual and retail spaces.

As part of this funding round, Guinness is backing the management team to develop a strong, core brand portfolio and deepen its team talent for future growth.

Dan Warne, Founder & CEO at Sessions, said:

“We are delighted Guinness have led the round to accelerate our 2022 growth plans and allow us to rapidly scale the business. The Cooper Parry team showed a strong commitment to supporting us through this round and delivered value throughout unlocking key investor conversations, bringing additional connections to the table and helping us close at speed.”

Ashley Abrahams at Guinness Asset Management, said:

“True disruptors in the hospitality sector, the hybrid physical and digital model Sessions are pursuing is hugely exciting to us and we’re looking forward to providing the full value of the Guinness team to support their growth.”

Steve Leith at Head of Tech and High Growth at Cooper Parry, added:

“Working with Dan and the whole Sessions team has been a great experience and we are delighted to have brought several great investors into the round. We had a joint commitment to execute this round at speed and allow the business to maintain its current growth and momentum. Hats off to the Sessions team for articulating such a strong vision and the CP team look forward to continuing to support through this next phase of growth.”