Jens Herrndorff invests in Unmilk

The manager of the band Fettes Brot joins as an angel investor and wants to promote vegan plant-based drinks as a substitute for cow's milk.

Only in January, the Hamburg-based start-up Unmilk, which sells vegan protein drinks, landed new investors. Among them was the Düsseldorf-based company Katjes Greenfood. Now, another backer has joined: Entrepreneur and Fettes Brot manager Jens Herrndorff is now supporting the start-up as an angel investor.

Unmilk sells a mix of oat and pea protein that is supposed to be an alternative to cow's milk. So far, Unmilk's protein oat shakes are available in three flavors: chocolate, spicy vanilla and coffee. The company also makes a DIY oat drink powder, as well as oat drinks in Pumpkin Seed, Barista, Hemp Protein and Original varieties.

Herrndorff is himself from Hamburg, which made a regional investment an obvious choice for him. And there's another personal reason for him: "As a vegan, I know how hard it is to find plant-based drinks that combine taste and healthy nutrition." Healthy dairy alternatives, he says, are the future.

Unmilk founder Jennifer Schäfer wants her drink to reach more customers. "If we want to make cow's milk an alternative, that also means Plant-Based has to be at least as available as cow's milk," she says. That's why the company is expanding its distribution in grocery stores, she adds. It also wants to be able to develop new products.