Pinkberry gets $27.5m swirl in growth financing from Maveron

Nation's Restaurant News,  Oct 29, 2007  

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LOS ANGELES -- Pinkberry Inc., operator or franchisor of 33 namesake frozen-yogurt shops, has obtained $27.5 million in expansion financing from Maveron LLC, a venture capital firm co-founded by Starbucks Corp. chairman Howard Schultz.

Pinkberry founders Shelly Hwang and Young Lee retain an unspecified "significant" equity position in the chain and plan to devote some equity to an employee stock option program, the company said. At the core of Pinkberry's menu is a tangy, fat-free, Korean-style frozen yogurt, sold with a variety of toppings.

The company owns three stores in the Los Angeles area and franchises 25 in California and five in New York.

Maveron, which also owns a stake in the Chicago-based Potbelly Sandwich Works chain, specializes in emerging companies and generally holds minority interests. The 9-year-old venture firm was co-founded by Schultz and Dan Levitan, a former investment banker who was involved in Starbucks' initial public stock offering.

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