Described as “London’s hottest new fast food chain”, Chilango is launching its second investment round on Crowdcube in the form of an equity crowdfund that aims to raise £1 million from investors in return for a 3.26% stake in the business. This money will kick start the next expansion phase that expects to see five-fold growth in the next five years.
This is different to its highly successful bond offer last summer where investors put in a minimum of £500 in return for an 8% p.a. interest payment over the four years of the bond. The Burrito Bond overfunded to secure a record-breaking £2.1 million on Crowdcube.
Eric Partaker (pictured above left with Dan Houghton), co-founder of Chilango explains why the company has opted for equity investment this time: “Our guests can’t get enough of our burritos and tacos and we love how equity crowdfunding means they can, literally, buy into a brand they love for as little as £10. Investors make fantastic brand evangelists so we want to have as many on board as possible. With the bond the entry bar was £500 so it was accessible to fewer people, although we still attracted over 700 who are all very happy with the return on their investment following two dividends.”
The Burrito Bond has already paid out £130k to its investors in its first two interest payments. The £2m capital raised has allowed Chilango to grow rapidly in 12 months, creating around 40 more jobs and financing three additional sites, with London Bridge and Camden High Street open, and Soho on the way, taking the group up to 10 restaurants. Across the chain Chilango serves fresh, vibrant Mexican food to over 20,000 enthusiastic hungry guests every single week.
50 locations in next 5 years
With the help of the new equity round, founders Eric Partaker and Dan Houghton are gearing up to reach over 50 locations over the next 5 years. To support this five-fold increase, Chilango is looking at potential sites in over 20 cities throughout the country, as well as introducing international franchises, with an initial focus on Dubai in the Middle East. As a first step in this plan, the £1 million will fund the launch of three UK restaurants.
To strengthen the management team, three industry heavyweights and existing investors have been appointed as non-executive directors:
- Simon Kossoff, chairman of Carluccio’s Italian restaurants
- Dan Henshall, former CEO of Krispy Kreme UK and current CEO with Farrow & Ball
- Chris Moore, former CEO of Domino’s Pizza UK
About Chilango
In 2007 ex-Skype executives, Eric Partaker and Dan Houghton launched their first restaurant in Islington, London. Wild about Mexican food, they saw a gap in London’s fast food market for freshly prepared burritos full of authentic, zingy flavours and colourful ingredients. Now Chilango operates 9, soon to be 10, Mexican restaurants around central London and has won several awards for its food, including “No. 1 Mexican restaurant” in the Zagat Survey, “London’s Best Burritos” in Time Out, and “Best New Chain Restaurants Around the World” in Condé Nast Traveller.
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