The brand, known for its large sushi rolls, poké bowls and salads, has received £1.3m to accelerate the next phase of its growth, with an aim to increase the rate of openings and expand the chain to 40 sites over the next five years.
The investment cements a relationship that began when Middleton Enterprises led a funding round of £612,000 in 2023, followed by a direct £800,000 investment in 2024.
The money has helped to finance the opening of new sites in central London, including SushiDog’s tenth, and largest store, in Warren Street that opened in April.
All of SushiDog’s sites are in London, in locations including Baker Street, Bank, New Oxford Street, Soho, Seven Dials, and Westfield but there are now plans to expand the brand nationwide.
SushiDog was founded in August 2017 by Greg Ilsen and Nick Goldstein and started trading from a kiosk at Westfield London in May 2018, with its first bricks-and-mortar site in Covent Garden opening in 2020.
Islen says the company now employs around 130 people and is track to generate over £8m this financial year.
“Middleton Enterprises provided the stability and finance we needed to scale quickly,” he says. “We’re in a good position and the latest round of funding will help us speed up our rate of growth.
“When they came on board we had four sites in London, we’ve recently opened our tenth store and now we’re looking to expand nationally, perhaps even internationally further down the line.”
Middleton Enterprises is a private investment office that supports businesses as they scale up. “This is our third investment into SushiDog. We made the decision to invest in the business again because it has a proven rollout model, based on predictable, repeatable growth,” says James Middleton, investment manager at the firm.
“They have constantly raised the bar, innovating and evolving with each new store, which gives us confidence in the next stage of growth that will see new sites appearing up and down the country.
“We have a great relationship with the founders, who know that we’re willing to invest in a longer-term project, providing the necessary finance to help them with each phase of development.”