Street Feast owner London Union backed by Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver crowdfunds millions for expansion
London Union, the celeb-backed company behind Street Feast, Dinerama and Hawker House co-founded by the creator of Leon restaurants has raised millions of pounds to expand across the city.
With the public appetite for street food only rising, it raised £2.5m on crowdfunding site Seedrs, with 160 individuals investing between £5,000 and £200,000.
It has also raising a further £1m in a round of financing from private investors, bringing the total to £3.5m, its original target. Investors will share a near 12 per cent stake in the business.
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“What’s great is that the success of our fundraise means we are well on the way to transforming London’s food landscape," said Henry Dimbleby co-founder of London Union and healthy fast-food chain Leon.
"We’ve already set a date for our first investors dinner and for the Annual General Eating in July, where we’ll eat, drink, listen and vote together on important company decisions.”
The cash will be spent on expanding its existing locations which include Model Market in Lewisham, Dalston Yard, Hawker House in Canada Water and Dinerama in Shoreditch.
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“The support we’ve received has been phenomenal," said co-founder Jonathan Downey. "At the outset we wanted a relatively small number of highly engaged investors to take a real interest in our business and we have achieved that in just 30 days. It’s great to think we are now one step closer to creating the world’s greatest food market in central London”.
Advisory board members of the venture include read like a who's who of the food world, including Nigellla Lawson , Jamie Oliver, Soho House's Nick Jones, Yotam Ottolenghi as well as food critics Marina O’Loughlin and Giles Coren.