Clarke will travel to India in December to meet prospective franchise and development partners, as the country emerges as a key priority for the business.
Disco Brands is an international QSR platform that discovers food brands with real cultural pull and builds the infrastructure to scale them globally. The planned funding round will support the development of the platform, international partnerships and preparations for its first brand launches.
Clarke, who has spent more than 20 years building and scaling food businesses including Chick’n’Sours and Chicken Shop, the latter alongside Five Guys UK backer Sir Charles Dunstone, believes there is a significant opportunity to take a new generation of independent QSR brands international.
“A restaurant brand in London or New York can already have fans in India before it’s ever opened there. The audience travels faster than the business,” he says.
“That’s the opportunity we’re building Disco Brands around. There are incredible independent food brands with audiences all over the world, but most don’t have the infrastructure to expand internationally.
“India is one of the most exciting food markets in the world for growth, but it’s the cultural energy that really interests me. Look at what’s happening across its cities in music, fashion, food and youth culture. There’s a whole new generation shaping tastes and doing things their own way. That’s incredibly exciting, and it’s why I’m heading out in December to meet people, explore opportunities and build the right relationships.
“We want to take brands people already love into new markets without losing what made them special in the first place.”