Impresario eyes raising $50 million to fuel its expansion

Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality will raise a fresh investment of $50 million to fuel its market expansion activities. The Mumbai-based company owns and runs a bouquet of a fine-dining restaurant, cafe and lounge brands such as Social, Smoke House Deli, Salt Water Café, Mocha and Flea Bazar Café.

Promoted by celeb restaurateur Riyaaz Amlani, the restaurant chain had raised $45 million from LCatterton Asia, the regional franchise of Connecticut-based global private equity firm LCatterton, in December 2017.

Amlani, CEO and MD, Impresario, said, “This time again, the funds are going to come from the same PE firm. We will use this money to expand all our existing brands and also to foray into new formats.”

Presently, Impresario has 23 outlets of Social, its all-day café and collaborative workspace format.

“We are witnessing great traction around Social and, therefore, we are scaling up this model. We will have 150 outlets of Social across the country by 2024,” Amlani stated.

Recently, the food company introduced Ishaara, an exclusive brand of restaurants manned by the speech and hearing impaired, in Mumbai. A team of 28 people is required for each Ishaara outlet.

Amlani added, “Speech and hearing impaired people are very special in many ways. They are more attentive, focused and come with a natural smile, a critical prerequisite for hospitality.”