Toronto’s General Assembly Pizza (GA Pizza), which touts itself as “the world’s first pizza subscription,” has closed an oversubscribed $13 million CAD Series A round via private placement, exceeding its $3.5 million target.
The round was led by Gravitas Securities. A company spokesperson told BetaKit the round also included “a strong and diverse shareholder base,” but would not disclose other investors in the round.
GA Pizza began as a simple pizza restaurant, but when the pandemic hit the company pivoted.
Following its successful pandemic-induced pivot, the pizza restaurant-turned-omnichannel brand plans to use the fresh funding to scale its pizza subscription model and grow its grocery sales across Canada. The first step towards doing so involves securing a new production facility.
“We believe that everyday culinary moments should be easy, and still delicious,” said Ali Khan Lalani, GA Pizza’s founder and CEO. “We’re constantly striving for ‘better’ in every area of our business, whether we’re re-thinking the frozen pizza category from the ground up, enhancing our e-commerce experience, or diverting waste from landfills through responsible packaging solutions.”
Founded in 2017 by Lalani, GA Pizza began as a simple, fast, and casual pizza restaurant, but when the pandemic hit the company’s dine-in and take-out restaurant model, Lalani pivoted his startup to offer consumer packaged goods (CPG), including grocery sales.
Lalani first instituted a frozen pizza grocery store sales line, which is available in Ontario, and later added a pizza subscription service. According to the startup, its subscription service has amassed 2000 subscribers since its September 2020 launch.
“GA Pizza’s strong leadership team coupled with demand for premium and elevated culinary experiences at home made this a tremendously exciting opportunity for our investor base,” said Kia Besharat, senior managing director and head of capital markets origination at Gravitas Securities.
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“The unprecedented reception is a strong validator of the business model and the differentiated value proposition GA Pizza brings to the table,” added Besharat.
GA Pizza said the growth of the company’s pizza subscription business has been driven by its customer retention strategy, which includes a members-only Pizza of the Month program.
Through a new production facility, GA Pizza aims to increase pizza production to 5,000 units per day by Q2 2021, and 10,000 units per day by Q3 2021.
The company also plans to offer more plant-based products, and use fully “divertible” consumer packaging.
For now, GA Pizza has its sights set on scaling its CPG offerings, improving its products, and “redefining what it means to be a restaurant-to-consumer brand.”
Photo of Ali Khan Lalani, GA Pizza’s founder, courtesy of GA Pizza