Fresh investment sees The Vurger Co. kick off its expansion this autumn
The October opening will see chef Gaz Oakley (who also runs YouTube cooking channel AvantGardeVegan and has amassed over 492,000 subscribers) take the position of executive chef. Oakley collaborated with the restaurant in June to create a special edition jerk burger, which was on the menu at Vurger's restaurant in Shoreditch for a month.
The Vurger Co founder Rachel Hugh raised the fresh wave of funding through a mixture of support from existing investors, and injections from new individual investors. She says that the money will be used to “add further sites and also take on some other exciting projects”.
“We have worked on this round for a few months and couldn't be more excited, proud and honoured that our investors believe in us and our vision as much as us,” says Hugh.
“We are proud also to have Gaz on board, he really understands our vision and what our customers want to see from us going forward.”
The new investments follow the group’s initial crowdfunding drive, which saw it hit its £180,000 Crowdcube target within 30 hours. It raised funds 66% above its target and ended the drive after 77 hours.
The Vurger Co started out as a market stall in August 2016, and opened its 30-cover restaurant at Richmix Square in March. It serves a menu of plant-based burgers, and sides such as macaroni cheese and sweet potato fries.
This year, the company was listed as a top start-up company in the 2018 Startups 100 List, the longest-running ranking of businesses that are less than three years old with good potential for growth.
