By NAN STAFF WRITER
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. May 11, 2022: A black Caribbean American restauranteur with a vegan restaurant chain has raised$25 million in Series A funding for her company, the Slutty Vegan, a plant-based burger restaurant chain in Atlanta, Georgia.
The raise puts Aisha “Pinky” Cole, who was born and raised in Baltimore parents from Jamaica who are Rastafarians, sitting on top of a company now valued at $100 million according to Forbes.
The $25 million round was led by entrepreneur Richelieu Dennis’ New Voices Fund and Enlightened Hospitality Investments, which is led by restaurateur Danny Meyer.
With the latest investment, Cole reportedly has plans to open up 10 additional Slutty Vegan restaurants by the end of the year. The goal is also to add another 10 locations in the near future.
In July 2018, Cole was inspired to create a vegan restaurant due to her own cravings for vegan junk food. She came up with a name Slutty Vegan as a provocative hook.
In 2018 she sold her first vegan burgers through Instagram from her two bedroom apartment, and opened a food truck in September of that year. In January 2019, she opened the first Slutty Vegan brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Westview neighborhood of Atlanta.
The restaurant is known for its long lines with hours-long wait times. Cole also operates two Slutty Vegan food trucks and opened a second restaurant location in Atlanta in the summer of 2019.
Cole’s mother, Ichelle Cole, is a musician in the reggae group Strykers’ Posse.
