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SANDIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL Vol 41. No. 30 ------------------ THE COMMUN ITV OF BUS IN ES S"' ------------ July 27 - August 2. 2020 • $5.00

QDOBA to Open First Restaurant in Hometown DINING: Growing San Diego-Based National Chain Has 730 Locations

QDOBA Mexican Eats will open Its first San Diego restaurant this fall.

■ BY MARIEL CONCEPCION

QDOBA Mexican Eats, the San Diego-based fast-casual Mexican food chain with 730 locations across 47 states and Canada, is finally opening its first hometown restaurant.

Scheduled to debut in the fall, the Mission Valley company-owned locaion will include all of the QDOBA bells and whistles, according to Jill Adams , vice president of marketing, including digital ordering and delivery on the QDOBA site and mobile app, third party delivery and catering for both B2B and B2C channels.

Photo courtesy of QDOBA Mexican Eats

Additionally, the San Diego restaurant, at 2,400 square feet and suitably for the pandemic, will feature a walk-up, pick-up window, outdoor dining and a curbside option that allows for orders to be dropped off with customers at their parked cars, she said.

+QDOBA page 34

San Diego Startups Raise Record $1.2 Billion in Q2 VENTURE CAPITAL: Life Science ategory H Large t Single Quarter in History

■ BY FRED GRIER Diego ' said Gra nt cbon man managing director at J LL s n Diego office. ' The

D pite the turmoil of an ongoing pan last best quarter in an Diego was Q3 in demic an Diego deal -making and high 2018 when the life sciences sector raised valuations is con- .....-===----,.....,,$780 million. This quarter we reached $875 tinuing into 2020.

ompanies in an Diego County raised $1.2 billion in the econd quarter of 2020 according to a July 20 report b JLL . Making it the largest quarter on record. Grant Schoneman

'The Life Science category had the largest ingle quarter of venture capital investing in history in an

million for the life science ectoc which I think is only the tip of the iceberg for the region .

$1.8B Raised JLL recorded $1.8 billion across all

funding stages for the second quarter specifically. This i up 42 percent yearover -year and up 88 percent quarterover-quarter.

ompared to la t ear the funding is more weighted more towards the life

cience than previou years \vitb 93% of funding in life scienc ($875M) and technology ($244 M .

' In tors are finding a good place to put their mone y said choneman. 'The common theme we are seeing is a greater focus on healthcare, diagnosti and t ting as it relates to VID .

Toward the end of the first quarter and into the second quarter of 2020 the pandemics impact wa felt across large sections of the globe, ulting in layoff: by technology startup hifts to remote work eemingly overnight and markets shut

ting down . Indu stri hit hard were travel la t-mile mobility r tau rant events

+Q 2page34

EvoNexus Debuts 5G Incubator TECH: Qualcomm Backs Program

■ BY BRAD GRAVES

an Diego startup incubator Evo exus launched a program earlier this month to help very young compani develop bu in models around the speedy new fifth-generation wire! data standard known a 5 .

Qualcomm lnc. an Diego s largest public company and the inventor of much 5G technology is sponsoring the EvoNexu program. inancial detai ls of the arrangement were not disclosed.

5G promis to send data between wireles devic up to 20 tim faster than previous-generation technology exchanging

+ 5Gpage36

Housing Market Sizzling Hot REAL ESTATE: Home Selling Fa t After Slow April and May

■ BY RAY HUARD

San Diego s housing market is going crazy after a slow April and slight! improved May.

gen report home are selling near! a fa t as the can Ii t them with multiple offers common .

ZiUo, an online listing agency and brokerage reported that an Diego born on average lasted 12 da. on the market in mid-July before a contract to sell v signed- 14 days faster than a year ago .

'The current housing market in San Diego i a perfect torm for a sizzling hot

+Homes page 9

P.6 WORK.PLA: : San Diego omen in STEM ee notable gains

https://SDBJ.COM

34 SAN DIEGO BUSINESS JOURNAL www.sdbj.com JULY 27, 2020

QDOBA • fro 111 page 1 - - ----- - -

h i i th fif th loca tion QD O B , fo und ed in 1995 and hcadq ua rt red in Mi io n Valle , will ope n du ring the pandemic, ac ording to dam . In June, it deb uted re ta urant in Ma r ie tta , Ga . , JIil Adams Fo rt Wor th Te, a , and Far mingdale, .Y. In Jul , QD OB op ned an eatery at the elli Air ◄ orce Ba c in Ne ada .

ow, the plan mo ing forward for the 900 million company - proje tcd to reach I billion by the end of 2020 - 1 to con

tinue to grO\ it I cal footprint , with franchi ed ope nin g pla nn ed in Sa n Diego down the line.

Growth Company "\Ve are a growt h compan and we are

ah a look ing for growth opp rtun iti ,'' aid Ad am . "Fo r San D iego, we are ac

ti ely looki ng right no, for what are tho c be t neighb orh d and be t ite to go into for QDOB . M i · ion Vall , on't be the only loca tion."

Since reloca ting i headqu, rter from Den er, olora d , in 2017, after being acqu ired b an Diego-headquar tered Jack in the Box in 200 fi r $4 - million, the plan for QDOB ha ah b en to claim a pi ce of an Diego' thriving food cene b opening multipl e re taurant here. But no oo ner had it put dO\ n local r ots in an

effort to con olidat infra tructure , Jack in the Bo · d ided to ell it , a id Adam .

In 20 17, Jack in the Box old QDOI3 to Apollo Global 1anagemcnt for 30 million.

hi put a ·light damp er on it lo a l gr wth and cxpan i n plan . But, a oon a that ale , a completed Ma rch of 201 , Adam aid the com pan tarted back up on it ear h for the p rfc t real c tale for it long-m ailed an Diego debut. nd, tJ,a t led them to Mi ion Valle t re, heduled to open between late Septemb r and earl October. Ju t one mile from the orpora te headquarter ,

the ne\ location will bring Onc, jo b to th e co unt y, he aid.

Test Kitchen

In ad d it io n to er ing the

Sa n D iego o m m un i-

t , Keith Guilbault, QD OB '

0 , aid the ne, lo at ion will erve a a tc t kitchen and training facilit for the company.

"We are c ·cited about opening our fir t r taurant in San D iego," aid Gu ilbault. " It took u ' a lilt) while to find the right loca tion a we definitely knc, we wanted it to be ome, hat nea r o ur office. ow, not only , ill it crve all of our u tomer , it will a l o be a place to train orpora te employee , a place to bring in

per pecti e f ranchi ce· and a place to tc t ne\ concep t . H aving it litera lly on the ame trect a the office will wor k to ou r

advantage.''

Robust and Flavorful On the menu ide, the Mis ion Valley

QDOB A location will offer the " rob u t and flavorful' ' menu item it i known for, aid dam . T hi include it mo t

pop ular p ro du ct, th e r il_led _ . hi ken 130\ I r Burrit o wllh it ,~na-

ture three- he c quc o, and it Imp~ ible Mea t pro tein option. ' ith _a pro pne t_ar blend of pi c and ca 0111ng, h aid .

" We laun hcd the y tcm Ma of 20I 9, o over a year ago, and le tcd it prior to

that," -aid dam abo ut the pla nt-ba -cd offering. " \i c arc till the larg

e t Me ·ica n fa t-ca ua l cha in 10 o ffer

plant-ba ed

QDOBA Mexican Eats Mission Valley will offer a full menu, Including top seller grilled

adobo chicken bowl and burrito .

lmp o ible meat. We a rc (a l o) the large t re taurant brand, hich offer it a a ground meat op tion vcr u a burger. We offer it a part of our bur rito and bowl and it i our mo t popul ar protein behind chicken and teak.''

For Sale Again? Ju t a thin g were tart ing to tabilize,

late la l year, it wa reported that QDOOA might be up for ale once agai n.

Ace rd ing to a Bloomberg rticlc, Apollo Gl o bal Marketing Inc .. the cw Yorkba cd pri ate equity firm~ hich acquired it from Jac k in the Box, wa e ploring a ale of th e co mp a ny th at co uld be worth up to 550 million, includ ing debt. It !aimed A po llo wa nt ed to ell QDOBA after attempt to ta ke Chuck E. hecse parent CEC Entertainment Inc. publi ia re er merger fell th ro ugh that July.

But Ad am a ure that for no, , QDQ. BA will remain in bu inc with Apollo ..

and it tight in unn y San Diego. '' We a re curr ently not in th

p roce of th e ale any mo re," he a id . " Pri

va te equit y firm are a h ay lookin g for opportuniti e , but the y decided no,, i no t th e right tim e.''

F or Ad a m th e deci ion pro ide a en e of

relief, pa rticular! becau e of the pan

demic. "T hey 've been great

pa rtn er ," he a id, " it' bee n nice to have th e am

o , nership group a we manag th ro ugh thi new wo rld ." ■

QDOBAMexicanEats

FOUNDED:1995 CEO:Kerth Guilbault HEADQUARTERS:Mission Valley BUSINESS:a fast-casual Mexican food restaurant chain. REVENUE:$900 Million In 2019 LOCALEMPLOYEES:132 WEBSITE:www.qdobacom NOTABLE:Opened four restaurants already during pandemic.

www.qdobacomwww.sdbj.com