Josh Magidson, founder of Chinese delivery concept Zing Zing has told MCA he plans to open up to 13 more stores by 2020 before rolling out nationwide, after the group smashed Crowdcube’s equity raise record.
Zing Zing’s pitch ended yesterday after overfunding by 457% to £1.6m for a 30% stake in the business.
Magidson said the group, which currently operates two sites in London, would not change its business plan but would now take on less debt to fuel its growth.
He said: “The original plan with the crowdfund was to get the money together for this year’s growth and use debt finance for next year. Now we are in a position to fund that ourselves, which puts us in a great position.
“The plan was to have one more this year and we are hoping to sign on that one pretty soon. Then we will do three next year followed by a four to five a year rollout and by about 2020 becoem a bit more aggressive and open seven or right a year.
“For the moment our sights are on London because of the obvious benefit of growing close together in the early stages of expansion. We will look to do the kind of thing Deliveroo did – get really established in London first and then roll out wider.
“There may be franchise opportunities that would enable us to spread wider at an earlier stage but that’s not something we’re focussing on right now.”
Magidson said he had been assisted by the advice of seasoned sector entrepreneurs on the board. John Harrison, the co-founder of Marylebone Warwick Balfour (MWB), the former owner of theHotel du Vin and Malmaison chains, is the group’s non-executive chairman, while Cabana founder Jamie Barber and K10 founder Maurice Abboudi are on the board. Edward Halfon of Notes advised Magidson.
Magidson said: “We went into the crowdfunding campaign with our eyes open and a watertight business case because we had been given a lot of great advice by people who had been there before. I don’t think that’s always the case with these things and the people investing in Crowdcube are not stupid. If there are holes in your plan or the brand doesn’t resonate they won’t invest.”
