Daily Juice Group LLC has completed its capital raise on a valuation of $5 million in funding from a private equity group, led by George “Kam” Kronenberg and John Abraham. Abraham will take a seat on Daily Juice Group’s board. The capital will be used to build a support team at the corporate headquarters, including franchise operations, marketing, and site selection.
“The private equity group (as Juice Investments LLC) is very well connected and is very synergistic in its investment approach to us,” says John Martin, Daily Juice Group’s CEO and co-founder. “They also have a lot of real estate knowledge and are helping us evaluate top tier sites for new locations. Their investment takes the burden of fundraising off our backs so we can really focus on the brand and expanding the concept via franchising.”
Daily Juice Group currently has two franchised locations in Austin with a third set to open in Westlake, Texas, in April.
Kronenberg has extensive corporate finance, principal investing, strategy, and business management experience across multiple industries. He currently serves on the board of directors for Second Round L.P. and Braver Stern Securities Corporation, and he was also instrumental in the founding of Circuit of the Americas, host to Formula 1 in Austin.
Abraham held the positions of associate, vice president, and managing director in the syndicated and leveraged finance department at J.P. Morgan Securities and its predecessor firms. In these roles, he was responsible for private equity-backed leveraged buyouts of large multinational companies, including restaurants, food suppliers, automotive parts producers, and industrial companies. From 2008 to 2012, Mr. Abraham was a fund director at Meritage Capital in Austin, where he was responsible for all management and oversight of the opportunity fund.
Austin-based Daily Juice serves made-to-order organic juices and smoothies prepared from fresh vegetables, fruits, and superfoods, as well as highly nutritious grab-and-go foods in a quick-service, uniquely cultural environment. Daily Juice currently has two franchised locations in Austin with a third under construction. Daily Juice plans initial franchise expansion through other regions of Texas such as Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, and San Antonio, before expanding into other prime markets such as California, Florida, and Colorado. Daily Juice expects to have a broad, national presence in the U.S. with approximately 100 locations through 2016.
