Tooru PLC (AIM:TOO, FRA:73N) CEO Scott Livingston talked with Proactive about the company’s recent £1 million fundraising, growth strategy, and expansion across major UK retailers in the fast-growing free-from and wellness markets.
The company successfully raised over £1 million through a placing, WRAP Retail Offer and debt conversion without offering a discount or warrants. Livingston said this “should give confidence that obviously we have support,” highlighting backing from major long-term institutional investors. The funds strengthen the parent company's balance sheet while enabling operating subsidiaries to accelerate growth.
Pulsin is receiving additional firepower to support stock levels amid rising demand. The brand is refreshing its positioning, expanding international distribution efforts, and significantly increasing retail presence — including an acceleration in Co-op stores from 80 to 1,000 locations. Meanwhile, OAF has secured a listing with ASDA and is expanding distribution in Tesco. Juvela remains in a solid cash position following refinancing with Shawbrook.
Looking ahead, Tooru is focused on expanding distribution points in major retailers and pursuing acquisitions within the free-from and wellness space. Livingston explained the company is targeting “main challenger brands that are on the shelf in snacking and nutrition or anything related to free from and wellness.” The strategy centres on maintaining a consistent consumer demographic while leveraging shared marketing and operational efficiencies.
With new product launches in the pipeline and retail momentum building, Tooru is positioning itself for accelerated growth in 2026.
Proactive: Scott, very good to speak with you. Tooru recently raised over £1 million through a placing, WRAP Retail Offer and also debt conversion. How significant is this fundraising for the company? What does it say about investor confidence in Tooru?
Scott Livingston: Thanks for having me, Stephen. Good question. We managed to raise without giving a discount or warrants. This should give confidence that we have support. We have support from major institutions as well, which are long-term holders, which is important to us.
Effectively, it buffs up the reserves of the group company, which doesn't have its own revenues because the operating subsidiaries have the working capital. We obviously have audit costs and various costs at the public company level, but we plan to give Pulsin more firepower for more stock to keep up with accelerated demand. Juvela and OAF have cash already and are in a good position following the Shawbrook refinancing with Juvela.
All of the subsidiaries are in good positions now to grow fast. We have a long runway and are in a very good position from a parent company perspective as we navigate the public markets. It's an important step forward for us. We don't want to raise too much at such a low valuation because, compared to real market comparables, we are behind where we would like to be.
Proactive: You mentioned some of those funds are going towards Pulsin. How will the investment help accelerate growth in the brand? What opportunities do you see in the health and free-from markets?
Scott Livingston: We're freshening up the brand with Pulsin and working with various partners. We're looking at international distribution as well. We're winning new shelf space — the Co-op accelerated from 80 to 1,000 stores. It's going well. We just want to grow as fast as we can. We had some challenges a year ago with ingredients and cash flow and paying suppliers upfront, but we're getting all of that back on an even keel now. We're going to be in a good position. With OAF we've won ASDA and we're accelerating products in Tesco as well. We're looking to expand rapidly this year.
Proactive: You mentioned winning ASDA and the expansion in Tesco. How does this momentum fit into your growth plans and what can consumers expect in the coming months?
Scott Livingston: From a consumer perspective, we're planning to add new products. We already have various types of products in the pipeline, which we'll be launching soon and presenting to buyers. From an investment perspective, the key KPIs this year are a number of acquisitions we're looking at and more distribution points in the big retailers for the brands we own.
Proactive: What sorts of acquisitions will you be looking at and how would they fit into the organisation?
Scott Livingston: We're quite specific in where we want to target and that is in free-from and wellness. That's the main challenger brands on the shelf in snacking and nutrition or anything related to free-from and wellness in that space. The key is to stay uniform, centralise costs, and have the same consumer demographic in brands we might buy so that the marketing team understands the audience very well. Obviously, sharing resources. We're trying to stay on that theme. That doesn't mean we wouldn't perhaps one day, if we have the bandwidth and balance sheet, look at free-from cosmetics as well, which is a similar demographic and distribution expertise. But at the minute we're very much focused on free-from snacking and food nutritional products, plant-based in the main.
Proactive: That sounds like an exciting year ahead. I hope you'll keep us updated.