Modern Baker, the Oxford-based start-up behind gut-healthy bread brand Superloaf, has raised £2.5m in Series A funding led by impact investor network Adjuvo.
The raise will be used to accelerate Modern Baker’s commercial rollout as part of its mission to challenge the narrative around ultra-processed food (UPF). It intends to reframe it as a health-positive innovation, delivering nutrient density without sacrificing taste or convenience whilst also being fully compatible with existing manufacturing processes.
Superloaf – Modern Baker’s proof-of-concept product first launched in 2021 and currently co-manufactured by Hovis – is now stocked in M&S, Sainsbury’s, and Ocado. It claims to bring radical blood glucose and gut health benefits to everyday bread, validating the wider potential to transform other staples and help shift population health at scale.
“This is about fixing UPFs, not fighting them,” commented Modern Baker co-founder Melissa Sharp, whose experience in a chemo ward led to their six-year mission. “The real enemy isn’t processing or additives – it’s nutrient poverty. We’re proving UPFs can be actively healthy, if done right.”
Her fellow co-founder Leo Campbell revealed that Adjuvo’s backing brings not only capital, but also a strategic network with deep influence across retail, food, and consumer tech sectors. “The idea of a ‘healthy UPF’ may sound audacious but it’s the only credible solution to the trillion-pound cost of poor diet,” he noted. “And we have living proof in Superloaf and its lab-validated data. This is transformative – for public health, and for UK PLC as a new global hub of health innovation.”
Adjuvo CEO Mark Foster-Brown said: “Modern Baker exemplifies the kind of purposeful, IP-rich innovation we back – ambitious, disruptive, and grounded in real science. Their ability to reframe a global health challenge through food tech is as inspiring as it is investable.”
Modern Baker has previously received six grants totaling £4m from Innovate UK, most recently in September 2023. The company says it has a capital-light, SaaS-style model that lets manufacturers upgrade everyday brands.
“With strong IP and recurring revenues, it’s built for scale – and for the kind of upstream impact the NHS and wider food system urgently need,” added Campbell. “Our model is to work with the food industry, not against it. While others attack UPFs from the outside, we’re building the fix from within – staying lean and agile, while our partners scale globally.”
Hovis is the first licensee, with plans for a wider pipeline targeting biscuits, sweet bakery, breakfast cereals, ready meals, and beverages – all ultra-processed categories currently under fire.
Earlier this month, the UK government announced its 10-year health plan aimed at tackling obesity levels nationwide and easing the burden on the NHS. While the current ban on promoting products high in fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS) has been scrapped and the upcoming ban on multibuy deals is also to be axed, all food businesses will have to report on healthy food sales – something that suppliers and trade bodies have urged should take into account different categories and occasions.
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