#33: The Great Cowfunding Drive
Slow at first, then all at once: that’s how this spring sprung. And with the new season came new growth: on the range, in the lab, and out there on the open plains of the internet, where something truly wild was about to unfold.
2026 heralded in the Age of the Great Cowfunding Drive. And nothing, not a stampede, not a prairie storm, could have prepared us for what happened next.
A Million Before Sunrise
It started with a whisper. Twenty-four hours before the official bell rang, we gave early access to a few hundred trail-blazers who’d pre-registered for the ride. Seasoned wranglers, every one of ’em. Because within the first hour alone, they’d roped in a full €1 million.
By sundown of the first day, €2.5 million had found its way into the saddlebags. The cattle (pardon us – the capital) was moving fast. We rode hard.
And after ten days ridin’ at breakneck speed, the final tally was in: €4 million raised, hosted on investment platform Invesdor, with more than 1,850 new co-owners joining the S.T.A.C.K., aka the Stainless Steel Alliance of Cow Keepers.
Add that to the €6.25 million secured late last year and a shiny new €2 million investor, and the total haul sits at a record-breaking €12.25 million. Every penny goin’ straight into building a way kinder, more efficient and better than ever future for dairy and everyone involved – cows ‘n keepers of the land included.
More than money
Now, every cowboy will tell you that gold is gold. But our chief cowgirl Hille (CEO, visionary, and keeper of the campfire) put it best once the dust settled: “What moves us most is not just the amount raised, but the movement behind it.”
And that’s the truth of it, partner. The Cowfunding Drive wasn’t just about filling the saddlebags. It was about building a powerful alliance of folks who believe that dairy doesn’t need a mother animal to be mouth watering, and that the food system can be way better and kinder than the way it’s always been. More than 1,850 new ambassadors. We couldn’t feel more supported.
Ain’t no rest for the ranch
You’d think after a drive like that, we’d put our boots up. Not a chance. This ranch don’t do idle.
Barely had the saddlebags been counted when Dutch business magazine Quote went and crowned our beloved Margaret ‘Cash Cow’ with a centerfold ‘n all.
Chief cowgirl Hille rode into the VMT arena to present before an R&D audience, heralding in a new era of collaborations and applications. The future is open range and we’re open for new collabs and new partners: the corral gate is wide open.
And over at PlantFWD, Margaret debuted the world’s first stainless steel milk chocolate fountain at the Museum of Novel Foods. All luscious fermentation without a cow in sight.
Fresh boots a-stompin’
With the fresh capital secured, we’re putting spurs to the ground on multiple fronts: developing several distinct variants of animal-free casein, for cheese, for milk chocolate, for functional nutrition and beyond. New partnerships, new applications, tastings across the Netherlands, and, red tape permittin’, market entry in the USA.
In other words: we had big boots to fill. Enter three new legends on the ranch, who you’ll meet soon:
Three cowboys in shinin’ stainless steel armor. They join the crew as we saddle up for the next chapter.
What more adventures will the Year of the Firehorse bring? We’re as wide eyed with anticipation as y’all. And we will not wait. We do the building, step by step, knowing y’all have our backs at every turn of the trail.
In gratitude for your trust, moral support and encouragement,
from all of us at The Stainless Steel Ranch. Where every ferment tells a story, and the trail always leads forward.
