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Matthew Glover

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Matthew Glover
NationalityBritish
Occupations
  • Veganuary founder
  • businessman
Known for
SpouseJane Land

Matthew Glover is a British businessman and animal rights activist. He is the co-founder of the Veganuary movement, which his wife Jane Land helped to create. In 2019, Glover founded Generation Vegan (formerly known as Million Dollar Vegan), a global education charity focused on veganism. In addition he is the founder of Veg Capital, which helps fund vegan food businesses. In December 2020, Glover and Adam Lyons created the vegan food brand VFC, a business that went onto become an international venture.

Career and Personal life

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Glover is married to Jane Land, and they live near York.[1][2] Glover came from a family of butchers and converted to veganism. His interest was initially with animal welfare and sustainability.[2] Together, Glover and Land attended street activism and vegan demonstrations. They felt like they were being ignored and subsequently they wanted to create something productive.[3] The concept of Veganuary was created by Glover and Land in 2014.[4] The campaign aims to get more people eating plant-based foods with the aim to becoming a permanent vegan.[5]

In its first year, Glover and Land put their life savings into the Veganuary project and moved in with Glover's mother.[6] The campaign has surpassed one million sign ups since its launch.[5] By 2022, The Veganuary event has grown to become one of the most successful vegan campaigns worldwide. That year another six-hundred thousand people signed up to take part.[7] In addition more businesses than ever promoted the event.[5]

Glover started his first business aged twenty-one and has built businesses in the construction, glazing and events sectors.[8]

In 2019, Glover launched the "Million Dollar Vegan" (now GenV) charity brand.[9] GenV is dedicated to educating people about the environmental, ethical and health benefits of living a plant-based lifestyle. Its aim is to inspire more people to become vegan and it operates in ten countries.[10] The brand soon received support from Paul McCartney, Chris Packham and Moby.[11] The organisation was founded after Glover and Land, with the backing of McCartney, challenged Pope Francis to become vegan for Lent.[12] In return, they pledged to donate one million dollars to Pope Francis' chosen charity, but he did not accept the challenge.[12] Their second campaign challenged US President Donald Trump to become vegan during January 2020. In exchange for his participation the same one million dollar charity reward was offered, though Trump too declined.[13] Glover is the current president of the charity.[10]

In June 2020, Glover launched a plant-based investment business. The not-for-profit venture was designed to help fund the growth of vegan companies.[14] Glover currently serves as the managing director of the company Veg Capital.[8]

In December 2020, Glover and restaurateur Adam Lyons co-founded the food brand VFC, which specialises in meat free alternatives for fried chicken.[15] The company was founded in York, United Kingdom.[15] Glover treated the brand as a form of business activism against the factory farming of chickens. He told Maxine Gordon from The Press that "this is where food meets activism. This is our sit-down protest."[15] The company experienced rapid growth and secured a supermarket distribution deal with Tesco.[16] In the first year of trading, the business expanded its sales into Spain, Netherlands and the United States markets.[17][18]

In July 2022, Glover co-founded Sentient Ventures, a new UK venture fund to invest in early-stage growth capital for alt protein startups globally.[19]

References

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  1. ^ Roberts, Joe (9 February 2019). "Vegans to pay Pope Francis $1,000,000 to try diet for lent". Metro. (DMG Media). Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  2. ^ a b Barratt, Sarah (30 December 2019). "The founders of Veganuary share their tips on how to nail it". Country Living. Archived from the original on 19 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. ^ Ho, Sally (31 December 2020). "Interview: Matthew Glover Veganuary Co-Founder "It's The Easiest Year Ever To Go Vegan"". Green Queen. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ "'Why I started the Veganuary movement'". BBC News. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Wood, Zoe (1 January 2022). "Veganuary set to pass 2m milestone as more firms join movement". The Guardian. (Guardian Media Group). Archived from the original on 1 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  6. ^ Gordon, Maxine (11 January 2019). "Meet the York couple behind Veganuary who've turned half a million people vegan". The Press. (Newsquest). Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  7. ^ "January 2022: Viva! Vegan Podcast". Viva! The Vegan Charity. 1 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Veg Capital – Plant-Based Investors". Veg Capital. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  9. ^ Scott, Catherine (12 January 2022). "Veganuary – how an idea over a glass of wine in York became a global phenomenon". The Yorkshire Post. (JPIMedia). Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  10. ^ a b "About". Million Dollar Vegan. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  11. ^ Gordon, Maxine (6 February 2019). "York couple launch million-dollar campaign to turn Pope vegan". The Press. (Newsquest). Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  12. ^ a b Carrington, Damian (6 February 2019). "Pope Francis offered $1m charity donation to go vegan for Lent". The Guardian. (Guardian Media Group). Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  13. ^ Kilander, Gustaf (1 October 2021). "Trump refused to go vegan for a month in case it killed a much-needed brain cell". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 October 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  14. ^ Mattinson, Alec (8 June 2020). "Veganuary co-founder Matthew Glover launches vegan investment fund". The Grocer. (William Reed Business Media). Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  15. ^ a b c Gordon, Maxine (1 January 2022). "KFC or VFC? York duo launch Vegan Fried Chick*n as Veganuary starts". The Press. (Newsquest). Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  16. ^ Gilbert, Helen (5 October 2021). "Vegan fried chicken alternative VFC lands first supermarket listing in Tesco". The Grocer. (William Reed Business Media). Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  17. ^ Pun, Amanda (28 December 2021). "The plant-based revolution: 10 European vegan meat alternative brands to check out". EU-Startups. Archived from the original on 28 December 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  18. ^ "U.K.-Based Vegan Chicken Brand Comes to U.S." QSR magazine. 23 September 2021. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Veganuary Founder Matthew Glover Announces £30M Sentient Ventures Vegan Fund". vegconomist.com. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
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