First-Ever Acquisition for Chipotle's "Cultivate Next" Venture Fund
Kegler Brown’s restaurant industry deal team served as lead transaction counsel for Brassica – the Columbus-based, Mediterranean-inspired, fast-casual restaurant concept – in acquiring a minority investment from Chipotle Mexican Grill’s $100 million Cultivate Next venture fund. Brassica was the first restaurant concept investment completed by Cultivate Next, which was formed to make early-stage investments into strategically aligned companies that further Chipotle’s mission to “Cultivate a Better World.” Along with Brassica, their portfolio also includes GreenField Robotics, Hyphen, Local Line, Lumachain, Meati Foods, Nitricity, Vebu, and Zero Acre Farms. According to Nate Lawton, Chipotle’s chief business development officer, “Funding from Cultivate Next’s minority investment will help Brassica scale to open new locations and expand to new markets.”
