Ron Shaich spent his career building companies that come to dominate a category before anyone else can. He founded Panera and built it into a chain of more than 2,500 units. As chairman and lead investor at Cava, he led the investment that converted Zoe’s Kitchen into the Mediterranean fast-casual chain, and helped take it public. Now Shaich is applying the same playbook to entertainment, doubling down on Level99, the interactive challenge-based venue company he has backed since it was still a concept.
Act III Holdings, Shaich’s investment vehicle, is adding $50 million to its existing $50 million commitment, bringing its total stake in Level99 to $100 million. The increase follows the June opening of the company’s fourth location, at Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. At just three weeks in, the site was “exceeding our projections, doing really well,” said Matt DuPlessie, Level99’s founder and CEO.
