Smacks Burgers & Hot Chicken, a fast food chain backed by rappers-turned-entrepreneurs Krept & Konan, has raised eight times more than the £200,000 it had targeted in its crowdfunding campaign.
The smashed burger and hot chicken chain currently has 15 sites across the UK and launched a crowdfunding campaign via Republic in April, alongside a £3.2m equity fundraise with Allenby Capital, to support the next phase of its UK expansion.
The crowdfunding campaign, which is due to close in six days, has surpassed its initial £200,010 target by 824% to £1.64m from 126 investors.
The group plans to use proceeds from the equity fundraise and crowdfunding to finance new company-owned and franchised sites in the UK. It is targeting at least 25 UK sites over the next 16 months, as part of a plan to reach 100 UK locations by 2029.
Over the past year, the QSR brand increased system sales by more than 50% to £7.9m driven by new franchised store openings in Glasgow, Cardiff, Brighton, and a corporate store in London Victoria.
The business today remains debt-free, EBITDA positive and wholly owned by Kaysor Ali, who founded the chain in 2021.
As part of the pre-registration for the crowdfund, rappers Casyo “Krept” Johnson and Karl “Konan” Wilson made an undisclosed investment and joined the business as creative directors.
At the time of the fundraise launch in April, Ali said: “We started Smacks five years ago to prove that fast food doesn’t have to mean low quality. From day one, the focus has been on serving fresh, fast, high-quality meals at prices people can come back to regularly. The response from customers and franchise partners, particularly over the last 18 months, has shown there is a real gap in the market for a brand like ours.
“This fundraising is about building on our momentum. We believe there is an opportunity for a vibrant and unique QSR brand that is one of a kind to scale across the UK and compete with the international chains dominating the sector today, and that is what we are setting out to build.”
It is not the first business venture for Ali, Johnson and Wilson, who opened a brand-new supermarket format, Saveways, in February 2025. The 15,000 sq ft site in Croydon is tailored specifically to serve the needs of black, Asian and ethnic communities in the local area.
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