EMERGING Research
Investment Thesis
EMERGING is a growth capital fund at the forefront of the technology-driven transformation of the restaurant, hospitality, and experiential entertainment sector. Founded by Mathew Focht in March 2023, the firm's core belief is that "places people gather" — restaurants, entertainment venues, and experience-led brands — are valuable but historically under-capitalized and under-professionalized businesses. Rather than acting as a passive check-writer or a traditional advisory shop, EMERGING builds operating capability, proprietary data, and industry standards to transform experiential businesses into durable, investable assets. In August 2026 the firm expanded this thesis with Promethean Investments to launch the Experience Fund (XPR), targeting the "intelligence layer" of the experience economy: AI, automation, and data infrastructure beneath consumer-facing hospitality brands (order and beverage automation, computer vision, autonomous service, labor and supply-chain intelligence, and gaming IP).
Stage Focus
EMERGING is a growth-stage investor. It does not target pre-seed or seed companies; it partners with operating companies and experiential brands that are ready to scale nationally, providing capital alongside hands-on operating support.
Check Size
Fund I deploys $2M-$8M per company. The newly launched Experience Fund XPR is a $300M vehicle with a $500M hard cap, co-sponsored 50/50 with Promethean Investments, suggesting materially larger checks for AI/automation infrastructure plays going forward.
Lead Tendency
EMERGING positions itself as a strategic operating partner rather than a passive investor, taking active roles in scaling portfolio companies (real estate, supply chain, technology, data). This posture suggests a lead/co-lead tendency, though public deal terms are not consistently disclosed.
Recent Activity
The firm's most significant recent move is the August 14, 2026 launch of the Experience Fund (XPR) with Promethean Investments. XPR's first-close investments are State of Play (an experiential hospitality venue operator, ~$35M investment value) and TAiV (a venue-media and hospitality technology layer running across 4,053 live locations at a 77% gross profit margin). Prior to XPR, EMERGING had been actively building out Fund I's portfolio across restaurant technology, experiential entertainment, and F&B operations software.
Portfolio Highlights
EMERGING's portfolio spans experiential entertainment (F1 Arcade, Puttshack, Flight Club, Batbox, Poolhouse), restaurant/hospitality technology (Chowly, Botrista, BrewBird, Leasecake, Overproof, Tablz, RestauRent, F&B Insights, Serve AI, 1Huddle), and, via the new XPR vehicle, State of Play and TAiV. The firm also operates or is closely affiliated with Buyers Edge Platform (digital procurement for foodservice, led by co-founder John Davie) and Emerging Concepts (strategic real estate partnerships for restaurant brands).
Team
- Mathew Focht — Founding Managing Partner; 25+ year career building operating companies in capital, real estate, supply chain, and technology for the restaurant/hospitality sector
- G.J. Hart — Managing Partner; former CEO of Red Robin, formerly CEO of Torchy's Tacos
- John Davie — Founding Operating Partner; CEO of Buyers Edge Platform
- Matt Menna — Managing Principal at Sterling Bay & Four Corners, overseeing a $20B+ real estate portfolio
- Dave Bagley — Operating Partner; 30+ years corporate finance/operations (Popeyes, Sonic, Bar Louie)
- Adam Breeden — Innovation Partner; CEO/Founder of F1 Arcade, prior builder of Flight Club and Puttshack
- Randy DeWitt — Innovation Partner; Founder/CEO of FB Society, scaled 9+ national restaurant brands
- Nick Hogan — Innovation Partner; Founder/CEO of Flagship Restaurant Group
- Scott Lawton — Innovation Partner; CEO/Co-founder of bartaco
- Steve Lombardo — Innovation Partner; CEO/General Counsel of Gibsons Restaurant Group
- Sterling Douglass — Venture Partner; Co-founder/CEO of Chowly
- Damian Mogavero — Venture Partner; Founder of Avero
- Rom Krupp — Venture Partner; Founder/CEO of OneDine
- Hudson Piehl — COO
- Julie Martin — CFO, CPA
- Josh Tackett — AI Strategy Director, former CTO of Buyers Edge
Decision Process
EMERGING operates with a broad partnership structure: four Managing/General Partners, a bench of Innovation Partners (operator-investors who built brands like F1 Arcade, Puttshack, and bartaco), Venture Partners, and Strategic Advisors, described as meeting monthly with frequent discussions. This points to a partnership-style decision process rather than a solo-GP or formal investment-committee model.
Founder Preferences
EMERGING backs "industry leading Founders and CEOs" in restaurant and entertainment concepts who are ready to scale nationally, and it specifically recruits operator-investors (its Innovation and Venture Partner ranks are staffed by founders/CEOs of category-defining hospitality brands) to support portfolio companies through diligence and go-to-market expansion.
Geographic Focus
Headquartered at 411 N LaSalle St, Suite 300, Chicago, IL 60654, with a secondary presence referenced in Edinburgh. Investment focus is primarily US hospitality and experiential entertainment brands.