Lehi-based private equity company Savory Fund has named Clay Dover, former CEO of Velvet Taco, as its new CEO. Co-founder and current CEO Shauna Smith will become managing director, the firm said in an announcement release.
Savory Fund focuses on emerging restaurant brands, including Swig, Mo’ Bettahs, R&R Barbeque and Houston TX Hot Chicken. The firm controls 13 portfolio companies generating $515 million in annual revenue and supporting more than 9,200 jobs.
“This is a meaningful milestone for Savory and a natural step in our evolution,” said Andrew K. Smith, co-founder and current managing director of Savory Fund. “Shauna’s promotion to managing director allows her to spend more time driving value creation, supporting our founders and shaping long-term investment strategy. Together with Clay’s operational expertise as CEO, this strengthens our platform and supports Savory’s continued momentum and leadership in the emerging restaurant investment space.”
“I’m proud of the platform we’ve built and honored to step into this expanded role,” Shauna Smith said. “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.”
Dover has more than three decades of restaurant industry experience, including executive leadership roles at Raising Cane’s, Pei Wei and Velvet Taco. At Raising Cane’s, he served as president and chief marketing officer. At Velvet Taco, he oversaw 1,000 percent sales growth and unit expansion from four restaurants to 54 in his nearly nine years at the helm.
“Joining Savory is a once-in-a-career opportunity,” Dover said. “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.”