Hotbox launches £1.5m fundraise as it looks to return to expansion trail

The group, which currently operates concessions within Market Halls’ Victoria and Oxford Street food halls, is preparing to launch restaurants in Covent Garden and Soho, with the opening of the former expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

It will mark a return to bricks and mortar for Hotbox, which started out life as a street food trader with residencies at Street Feast’s Dalston Yard, Battersea Park, Dinerama, Hawker House and Lewisham’s Model Market.

The group launched its first permanent restaurant in Spitalfields in 2014, but was forced to close it in early 2022​​ after its investors pulled out of the business.

It was subsequently sold to financier Adhum Carter Wolde-Lule.

In a statement provided to Restaurant​, Wolde-Lule revealed that the ongoing fundraise, which has so far raised £560,000, has propelled Hotbox’s valuation to £7m.

It is his hope that having re-established the group’s foothold in London in the coming months, he can also begin expanding to other major UK cities.

He said: “As Hotbox London ventures into this expansion, it remains devoted to its foundational principles of quality, creativity, and community, promising to persist in delivering memorable dining experiences that celebrate the rich diversity of London’s culinary culture.”