Savory Fund

Andrew K. Smith, Shauna Smith, and the investment team — including Director Taylor DeHart, Principal Matt Durham, and Principal Rob Gardner — evaluate and execute deals. The firm's website states that its investment team is laser-focused on portfolio profitability, portability, and partnership alignment.

Savory leverages founder relationships, its operational track record, and market scouting by a team with deep restaurant-industry networks. Its principals have collectively overseen 530+ restaurants across 27 states, which creates connectivity in the emerging-brand ecosystem. The firm also runs a dedicated investor and public relations function to amplify brand awareness and attract inbound opportunities from founders.

Savory operates as a private equity firm, not a family office. It raised committed capital from external limited partners for Fund I ($100M, 2018), Fund II ($100M, 2021), and Fund III ($110M first close, December 2025), and it pursues institutional returns by scaling restaurant concepts for eventual exit or harvest.

Savory executes direct, control-oriented equity investments in consumer-facing restaurant brands. The firm does not appear to commit to third-party funds or run a fund-of-funds program — capital is deployed directly into operating companies where it can embed its in-house management platform.

Savory targets emerging, founder-led restaurant brands that are already operating and generating revenue, typically with a handful of locations and strong regional followings. It steps in as both a growth-equity investor and an operational partner, building out multi-site footprints rather than funding pre-revenue concepts.

Four Foods Group was the restaurant investment and management company founded by the Smiths. Savory Fund effectively institutionalized that earlier operating platform — many of Savory's senior leaders, including President Tyler Nelson, previously held roles at Four Foods Group, which generated over $140M in revenue before the transition.

The firm does not publicly disclose a dedicated philanthropic structure or foundation. Its portfolio brand South Block operates a nonprofit called Fruitful Planet that provides fresh produce to underserved communities, but this is a brand-specific initiative rather than a firm-level philanthropic vehicle.