The latest food and beverage industry news and trend analysis

Private equity firm Savory Fund, known for scaling emerging restaurant concepts like Swig and Mo' Bettahs, has announced a significant evolution in its executive structure. The firm has appointed industry veteran Clay Dover as its new Chief Executive Officer, while co-founder Shauna Smith has been promoted from CEO to Managing Director.

The leadership shuffle is designed to bolster the firm's operational capacity as it continues to scale high-growth, founder-led brands across the United States.

Strategic Restructure and Roles

The new hierarchy separates the investment strategy from the operational scaling of the portfolio.

• Shauna Smith (Managing Director): In her elevated role, Smith will focus on driving long-term investment strategy, value creation, and founder support. Her tenure as CEO saw the fund grow to 13 portfolio companies generating $515 million in annual revenue and supporting over 9,200 jobs.

• Clay Dover (CEO): Dover takes the helm to guide the next phase of growth. His mandate involves applying his operational expertise to scale the fund's emerging brands into household names.

Andrew K. Smith, co-founder and Managing Director, commented on the division of labour:

Executive Profile: Clay Dover

Dover joins Savory Fund with over three decades of experience in the restaurant sector, bringing a track record of aggressive scaling.

Most recently, he served as CEO of Velvet Taco, where he oversaw a period of hyper-growth. During his nearly nine-year tenure, the brand expanded from four units to 54 (a 1250% unit expansion) and recorded 1000% sales growth. His résumé also includes executive leadership roles at Raising Cane's (President and CMO) and Pei Wei.

Industry Context

The promotion of Shauna Smith to Managing Director places her in a rare demographic within the financial sector. According to data from the Columbia School of Business, only 5% of private equity firms are female-founded, and only 4% feature female managing partners.

Shauna Smith expressed confidence in the handover: "Clay has done exactly what we do at Savory — scale emerging brands into household names. I'm energized to link arms with him and Andrew as we take on this next chapter together."

Clay Dover added: "Savory's mission — helping founder-led brands scale without losing what makes them special — truly resonates with me. I'm thrilled to work alongside Andrew and Shauna to build on this incredibly strong foundation."