Sales

Grind smashes £750,000 crowdfunding target and signs deal with listed travel food operators SSP

by XPRESS, 24 November 2017

Hip London coffee and cocktail chain Grind has announced a new round of equity crowdfunding, on the same day as it announced a deal with travel food operators SSP Group to open new branches in airports and stations around the UK.

SSP, which has a market value of over £3bn, Thas benefitted from an increase in air passengers, boosting sales at its brands like Upper Crust and "Grind has always been about serving high quality coffee and cocktails to busy Londoners who demand the best," said Grind founder and chief executive David Abrahamovitch. "We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with SSP to bring Grind into airports and train stations nationally for the first time."

The company also launched its second crowdfunding campaign, after raising £1.3m with its "Grind bond" in 2015. This time investors will be able to buy shares in Grind.

The campaign has already fulfilled its target of £750,000 and is now overfunding, with £827,000 raised at time of writing. The fundraising gives the company a value of £18m.

Crowdfunding consultant Rob Murray Brown of ECF Solutions commented: "Grind appeared on Crowdcube in 2015 with a successful £1.3m bond. Whilst the projections then have not quite come to fruition now, they have certainly made progress. And the signing this week of SSP, the transport hub specialists, to help role out their branded coffee bars in railway stations and airports, puts them them in a good position for the next few years."