Indie coffee brand ready to serve up new London locations with £4.6m funding

Hospitality brand Grind has agreed on a £4.6m funding package with HSBC following its £3.4m Crowdcube equity raise earlier this year.

In 2015, Grind launched on the platform, raising £1.3m from 447 investors to fund its first coffee roastery and further locations in London. Grind will repay these early investors in full next week - after four years, one year ahead of the bonds’ expiry.

Following the launch of Greenwich Grind in late 2018 and its latest spot, Liverpool Street Grind, earlier this year - Grind has grown to 11 locations in London with more in the pipeline.

In the next six months, Grind will open Southbank Grind, just behind the London Eye, and will begin its rollout in travel hubs with franchise partners SSP, opening Grinds in London Bridge, Victoria and Waterloo stations.

In the future, Grind will open in Canary Wharf in 2021 and plans to keep growing to 21 company-owned and 15 franchised locations by 2022.

Grind’s founder and CEO, David Abrahamovitch, said: “The support of our original bondholders was a pivotal part of our journey, amplifying the brand and allowing us to build our first coffee roastery and continue our expansion across London.

“Back then, we only had a few locations and these bondholders took a risk in backing us, and I’m extremely grateful to those who did.”

He added: “Thanks to the continued support of our banking partners HSBC, I’m delighted that today we are repaying their investment in full, and earlier than planned.

“With HSBC’s support, plus our recent £3.4m crowdfunding equity campaign, we are stronger than ever, with the funding we need to execute our plan and keep growing across London and beyond.”

Since its first crowdfunding campaign in 2015, Grind has returned to the crowd twice; with a £2.1m equity raise in 2017, and a £3.4m raise in April 2019.

Earlier this year, Grind relocated its coffee roasting to a new space in Elephant and Castle.