The chain of vegan restaurants Next Level Burger says it has raised $20 million to speed up its aspirations for national US expansion. By the end of 2025, the company’s store count will have quadrupled, and it plans to eventually open 1,000 stores.
“Our company mission has been focused on a triple bottom line philosophy of doing good, having fun and making money”
The brand states that early stage vegan investors Alex Payne, formerly of Twitter and Simple Bank, and Nicole Brodeur led the round, which also included a strategic organic and natural foods partner, private mission-driven shareholders, and early stage vegan investors.
The 100% plant-based version of traditional American fast food served in Next Level’s nine locations in California, Oregon, Colorado, Texas, and New York. It only uses non-GMO foods and organic produce in its variety of burgers, fries, and delicious milkshakes, and all of its product packaging is compostable.
1000 stores in ten years
In February, when the brand proclaimed its intention to treble the number of stores over the following several years, Next Level initially unveiled its aggressive growth goals. It also revealed ambitions to greatly grow Next Level Clucker, a plant-based chicken spinoff it launched in 2021, to 1,000 restaurants over the following ten years.
The brand began operations in Bend, Oregon in 2014, then spread throughout the West Coast. Since then, it has teamed up with Whole Foods Market to build six in-store restaurants. The business unveiled its new flagship restaurant in Denver, Colorado, in August.
“Since our founding in 2014, our company mission has been focused on a triple bottom line philosophy of doing good, having fun and making money… Now more than ever, the fight against climate change and for sustainability drives us and our awesome team of mission oriented stakeholders. At NLB we believe the future is bright, but it’s up to all of us to make sure of it,” said Matthew de Gruyter, CEO and Co-founder of Next Level Burger.
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