Equity firm invests in Torchy's Tacos

Torchy's Tacos — a fast casual restaurant that began as a food truck, has received a minority investment from General Atlantic, a growth equity firm, according to a press release. General Atlantic joins the five founding partners of the restaurant chain as a shareholder.

Torchy's began as a food truck in Austin, Texas, in 2006, from former corporate chef Michael Rypka, who was inspired by a love for tacos and a passion for experimenting with food to bring a non-traditional taco experience to Texas. To help cultivate the dining experience and expand the business, Rypka was then joined by Farrell Kubena, vice president of business development, Rebecca Kubena, vice president of finance, Jason Wald, vice president of operations, and Alfonso Angelone, vice president of technology. Torchy's now serves 46 locations across three states.

"Thanks to all of our taco junkies, Torchy's has experienced incredible growth in the past 11 years," said Rypka, founder and vice president of marketing and culinary at Torchy's. "We are excited about how the partnership with the General Atlantic team will help us continue to grow our business while staying committed to doing what we do best, which is to serve our guests ‘Damn Good Tacos'."

In conjunction with General Atlantic's investment, Todd Diener, restaurant industry veteran and former president of Chili's, a brand of Brinker International, will join the Torchy's board of directors. Andrew Crawford and Shaw Joseph, both senior leaders on General Atlantic's global retail and consumer sector team, will also join the board.