Slutty Vegan Secures $25 Million Funding to Expand Across 20 Locations

EAT

May 11

Entrepreneur Pinky Cole, the founder of the rapidly expanding Atlanta-based vegan burger chain, is on a mission to transform the vegan food industry while creating health initiatives and food options for the Black community.

The famous Atlanta-based vegan burger joint, Slutty Vegan, has just raised $25 million through a Series A funding round to expand its mission of transforming vegan food culture and giving back to others in the community.

Led by New Voices Fund and restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Enlightened Hospitality Investments, the funding will be used to expand Slutty Vegan’s growing vegan empire.

The fast-food chain is planning to open 10 new restaurants in 2022, with another 10 expected by the end of next year. These locations include Brooklyn, NY; Harlem, NY; Birmingham, AL; Columbus, GA; and Athens, GA.

Slutty Vegan was founded by entrepreneur Pinky Cole in 2018 and quickly attracted a cult following from vegans and meat-eaters alike, counting celebrities including Snoop dogg, Usher, and Tiffany Haddish among those who love the brand. Currently, the chain has five locations in Atlanta and is expanding into Brooklyn and Baltimore, as well as distribution for Slutty Vegan dips, which come in flavors like Bangin’ Hot-Lanta Chik’n, at various grocery chains including Costco. Cole’s upcoming book Eat Plants, B*tch will be released later this year and she’s also collaborating on a shoe deal.

This latest funding investment brings the brand’s value to around $100 million, as Cole’s vision “to build a billion-dollar brand” continues to progress.

“To have the New Voices Venture Fund and the GOAT of the restaurant industry, Danny Meyer himself, to have them a part of this team is a recipe for success,” Cole said. “I’m excited about the people I’m involved with.”

Photo: "One Night Stand" burger/ Maya Hockaday

Impacting communities

Cole is also on a mission to empower generations of color to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams through the Pinky Cole Foundation via education, training, networking, and fundraising assistance.

For Richelieu Dennis who founded New Voices Fund - a social commerce giant with a mission to support Black women scale and grow their businesses - the exciting food and wide-ranging philanthropic initiatives are what attracted him to Slutty Vegan.

“It’s about partnering with these incredible entrepreneurs and their businesses to drive real scale and growth and create wealth for those founders,” Dennis told Forbes. “And that’s what Pinky has done here and continues to do. This new round of investments will rapidly transform not just the vegan restaurant industry but will drive an incredible amount of health initiatives and food options for the Black community that may not have existed yet.”

It was after hearing people rave about the food that Dennis decided to taste it for himself. “They kept encouraging me. So, I went to see her. I’m in the line and I’m looking at the line. That’s what pulls me in,” says Dennis. “And, as they say, I was ‘Sluttified.’ I was hooked ever since.”

“When people see that you are not only building a profitable company, but you are building an ecosystem, people respect that,” Cole told Inc. “They continue to want to support you. It feels so good to know that level of growth can come beyond money, and funnel back out to our communities.”

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