---
title: "Fast Casual: Wow Bao Partners with Equity Firm to Accelerate Growth"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/9f2cf819-09ad-4679-9998-30e9c1eb430d
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/fast-casual-wow-bao-partners-with-equity-firm-to-accelerate-growth-2704633
category: "Fast casual"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Fast casual"
published: 2017-10-19T19:14:03.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T03:09:30.619Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/4c1dc6831c5b623ae26ae69eb8eae0248893.jpg
---

# Fast Casual: Wow Bao Partners with Equity Firm to Accelerate Growth

**TL;DR:** Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc. has partnered with Valor Equity Partners to accelerate Wow Bao's expansion efforts. Wow Bao aims to open locations throughout the rest of the U.S.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-10-19. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/fast-casual-wow-bao-partners-with-equity-firm-to-accelerate-growth-2704633).*

## Story

Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Inc., the restaurant group that owns Wow Bao, has announced their partnership with Valor Equity Partners, a Chicago-based growth equity firm. The partnership is focused on furthering Wow Bao’s expansion efforts.

Wow Bao first introduced its steamed-Asian-bun concept to Chicago in 2003. Since then the brand has expanded into ten other states in the Midwest and along the East Coast and has successfully maintained units in competitive venues including NFL and MLB stadiums, airports, hotels, and college campuses. Wow Bao also has a line of retail items available in more than 55 grocery stores.

Wow Bao, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, and Valor Equity Partners hope to leverage Wow Bao’s success in its existing markets to open locations throughout the rest of the U.S.

"We are very proud of the team that created and manages Wow Bao," Geoff Alexander, president of Wow Bao, said in a company press release. "We believe working together with Valor creates an exciting opportunity for all of Wow Bao.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- unit expansion (topic)
- private equity (topic)
- growth strategy (topic)
- NFL (company)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/fast-casual-wow-bao-partners-with-equity-firm-to-accelerate-growth-2704633). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/9f2cf819-09ad-4679-9998-30e9c1eb430d).