DTC’s Daily Digest brings you the latest news on the world’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands. In today’s edition: Butternut Box raises funds for European push; Freetrade crowdfund to engage new audiences; and Mejuri’s USD$23m Series B.

Butternut Box raises funds for European push

Butternut Box, the London-based fresh food delivery startup for dogs, has raised €17.4m (£15m of new investment in a round led by European venture capital firms Five Seasons Ventures and White Star Capital.

The investment marks the fast-growing company’s intention to launch into Europe and build a leading pet-wellness business.

Since launching in 2016, Butternut Box has produced more than eight million meals for dogs across the UK and last year saw revenues grow by 700%. Dishes are cooked with fresh ingredients and portioned according to a dog’s breed, weight, sex, and exercise regime before they are delivered to customers.

The company stresses the importance of transparency in the pet food sector and believes strongly in quality ingredients with easy-to-read labels on packaging. The new investment aims to bring healthy, balanced diets to more pets across the UK and Europe.

Freetrade crowdfund to engage new audiences

British fintech Freetrade is set to raise £1m in crowdfunding from its members, with the possibility of raising up to £4m. It's the fee-free stockbroker's fourth funding round to date with this latest financing going towards building its engineering teams as it looks to further break into the European market.

The company has 100,000 on its waiting list and says it's growing at 12% per week. The app is riding on the coattails of U.S. company Robinhood — the U.S. zero-fee investing platform with more than six million users that CNBC says aims to disrupt banking and "become a millennial investor's one-stop shop."

Freetrade’s latest funding will go towards building out its product offering, such as offering fractional shares of equities (buying, say, a £30 portion of a share of Facebook), and boosting its European presence.

The company is also launching an 'autopilot' feature described as being like a robo-advisor that can help maximise investments, and will hire additional engineers through the fundraising.

Freetrade's core demographic is between ages 25 and 35. The next stage in the company's evolution is to bring in older investors who have their main savings with UK incumbents such as Hargreaves Lansdown and AJ Bell.

Mejuri’s USD$23m Series B

Toronto-based direct-to-consumer jewellery startup Mejuri has raised USD$23m (£18m) in Series B led by New Enterprise Associates.

Founded in 2015 by Noura Sakkijha, a third-generation Jordanian jeweller, and her husband Majed Masad, Mejuri designs, manufactures and sells minimalistic high-quality fine jewellery directly to customers through its website that receives close to 800,000 visitors every month. The startup also has two offline stores in Toronto and New York City where customers can try and buy the jewellery.

According to TechCrunch, Mejuri has released 1,500 designs since its launch, using its two manufacturing facilities in Toronto and Seoul. Mejuri claims that because of its direct-to-consumer approach, it offers products at much better prices compared to traditional retail. Sharing an example on its website, it states that a ring that a traditional retailer will normally sell for USD$525 (£406) is sold on Mejuri for USD$175 (£135).

The startup has told TechCrunch that its revenues have quadrupled year-on-year for the fourth consecutive year with 30% of its monthly transactions coming from returning customers. Mejuri also claims that 70,000 of its customers are on the waitlist for its products. Mejuri plans to use the investment on its offline expansion and branding and customer experience.