Mod Pizza is rolling in the dough.
The Bellevue-based pizza chain today announced a $40 million round that it will use to open nearly 70 more stores nationwide in eight new states.
MOD, founded in 2008 by former Seattle Coffee Company co-founders Scott and Ally Svenson, currently has 32 stores in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Colorado, and Texas.
The $40 million round was led by PWP Growth Equity, and included past investors — some of which include well-known leaders in the Seattle tech industry like Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff; T-Mobile COO Jim Alling; and Madrona Venture Group’s Matt McIlwain. Starbucks Chief Digital Officer Adam Brotman and Dunkin Donuts President Paul Twohig sit on MOD’s Advisory Board.
MOD, which has reeled in $70 million to date, is in the “fast casual pizza” industry and is similar to new eateries like Chipotle that focus on quick service, custom orders, and high quality food. Direct competitors include Pie Five Pizza Company, PizzaRev, Pieology, Project Pie, Uncle Maddio’s, Your Pie, and Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza.
The Svenson duo has previous success in the food industry, having sold Seattle Coffee Company to Starbucks for a reported price of $83 million in 1998. Scott Svenson is the former president of Starbucks Europe, and worked as a managing partner at Freestone Capital Management.
MOD Pizza is not to be confused with Mad Pizza, another Seattle pizza chain backed by tech investor and former Seattle Sounders general manager Adrian Hanauer.
