DALLAS, USA – La La Land Kind Cafe, a chain of coffee shops with the purpose of normalizing kindness and hiring and mentoring foster youth, announced that it has secured a $20 million investment from John Phelan, former Co-Founder and Chairman Emeritus of MSD Capital, L.P. and Founder of Rugger Management LLC, and Andy Teller, a private investor.
Founder and CEO François Reihani opened his first La La Land Kind Cafe location at just 23 years. Since 2019, La La Land Kind Cafe has opened eleven store locations throughout Texas and California, with the purpose of normalizing kindness, and empowering foster youth aging out of the foster care system.
The chain provides paid on-the-job and customer service training, mentorship, and assistance with job placement, housing, schooling, and therapy for foster youth. “Kindness first, coffee second is the company’s motto,” says Reihani.
Since opening La La Land Kind Cafe, Reihani has received countless opportunities and offers from banks and Venture Capitalist, but such a transactional deal never felt right. Until he was introduced to John Phelan and Andy Teller. Since their introduction two years ago, Reihani was able to build a true relationship with both Phelan and Teller, leading this investment to feel more like a bond and partnership than a financial investment.
“We are thrilled to partner with John and Andy. Their experience and expertise will be invaluable as we continue to grow our business and positively impact the world.” Teller adds, “we are excited to invest in La La Land Kind Cafe and its social mission.”
Both Phelan and Teller understand that La La Land Kind Cafe is not just a coffee shop, it is about making a greater impact on society. Their passion for La La Land Kind Cafe’s mission is what drew Reihani to finalize this exciting next phase of the business.
La La Land Kind Cafe is raising the standard of what we should all expect from businesses. They believe that a business can be kind, give back, care about the community, and serve high quality products while still making a profit, and La La Land Kind Cafe will prove it can be done. “Francois and his team have built an incredible company,” said Phelan.
“We are committed to supporting their growth and helping them achieve their financial and social goals. La La Land Kind Cafe is raising the standard of what we should expect from companies. A business can give back, care about the community, and serve high-quality products while being profitable.”
With the new investment, the company plans to expand its operations and open new locations throughout the United States. “We are excited to use this investment to continue our mission of making the world a kinder, happier place,” said Reihani. “We believe that kindness is the key to a better future, and we are committed to making a difference in the lives of our guests, employees, and communities that we serve.”
This next phase of the business is more than just about company growth for Reihani. “I believe this is a huge step into our path to bringing a deeper human connection to “strangers.” It’s a long term life goal for me and as we are able to get the right backing of people who believe in what we are doing, it’s a special thing to create and run something that physically brings humanity closer together. In hospitality we are normally the only “strangers” someone speaks to outside close friends or family. This means we physically represent humanity. We’re changing standards by not only creating the environment that brings happiness but interactions that show the power of humans being connected, and telling hundreds of thousands of humans a year that we love them. Words that are now not heard often. That’s what is exciting. To expand that power.”
