Arlington’s own Pupatella pizza restaurant chain has raised $7.5 million to continue its growth spurt, with plans to open more than a dozen restaurants in the coming years.
The round was fully subscribed and had participation from almost all of the investors who participated in the company’s first round in 2018, when it raised $3.75 million, the company said. Rob Samit, co-founder of eye care chain MyEyeDr.; Dan and Mike Miller, owners of Gaithersburg construction firm Concrete General Inc., were both leaders in this round. There were 19 total investors, which had a minimum investment of $250,000, though the company made some exceptions for strategic investors, executives said.
Pupatella currently has five locations — four in Greater Washington and one in Richmond — and two more on the way, planned for the Mosaic District and West Springfield. The company says the latest round could lead to 15 more company-owned locations in the next few years.
Already the company is negotiating for four additional sites, including the company’s first location in Maryland. Another is in D.C. proper and two more are in Northern Virginia, and Pupatella said it hopes to be able to announce those locations by September. Beyond the immediate Greater Washington area, Pupatella is looking for sites in Anne Arundel and Howard counties in Maryland, as well as in some parts of the Baltimore suburbs, the company said.
Husband-and-wife team Enzo Algarme and Anastasiya Laufenberg launched Pupatella in 2007 as a food cart serving Neapolitan pies. The restaurant, which opened its first brick-and-mortar location in Ballston in 2010, serves pizza certified by the Italian trade group Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana. The company brought on Elevation Burger co-founder Michael Berger and decided to grow through franchising in 2016 before switching gears in 2018 to pursue opening more company-owned stores. Cord Thomas, another Elevation founder who invested in Pupatella's previous round, is now serving as president of Pupatella Management.
The company opened new locations in Dupont Circle and Reston during 2020.
