-- City Roots Hospitality, the New York-based restaurant group led by chef Guy Vaknin, today announced the acquisition of Fysh Foods, the plant-based raw fish brand founded by digital creator and entrepreneur Zoya Biglary.
Photo Courtesy of City Roots
Founded in Los Angeles in 2022, Fysh Foods set out to solve a problem the food industry hadn't cracked: a raw, plant-based fish alternative that could stand in for sushi-grade seafood without sacrificing texture, flavor, or the ritual of the dish itself. At a time when plant-based meat had made major inroads with burgers and chicken alternatives, raw seafood remained largely untouched — making Fysh Foods one of the first brands to bring a genuinely novel plant-based seafood product to market.
What set Fysh Foods apart wasn't just the product — it was how it was built. Biglary bootstrapped the company entirely on her own, turning down outside investment and building the brand without a venture round, an incubator, or a co-founder with food industry experience. In an industry where founder stories are so often tied to funding rounds, Fysh Foods grew instead through direct-to-consumer sales, word of mouth, and the trust Biglary had built with her nearly 1.7 million followers across social platforms — proof that a creator's audience could translate into a real, standalone food business.
Biglary brought Fysh Foods to a national audience in Fall 2024 as a contestant on ABC's Shark Tank. While she accepted a deal on screen with Daniel Lubetzky, she ultimately chose not to take on the Shark's investment — a decision that kept Fysh Foods entirely self-funded and female-owned through to this acquisition.
"I built Fysh Foods because I believed plant-based seafood deserved the same innovation that plant-based meat had already recieved. 4 years ago I had competitors who raised millions of dollars on "food tech" valuations. I didn't do that. I always treated my brand as a food company, rather than a "food tech" company. Today, those same competitiors are no longer in business." said Biglary.
The acquisition brings Fysh Foods into City Roots' portfolio of plant-forward New York City restaurants, led by chef and restaurateur Guy Vaknin — himself a Shark Tank alumnus and widely regarded as one of the most influential plant-based chefs working today. Under City Roots, Fysh Foods will be woven into the group's restaurant locations across New York City, with the brand's raw plant-based fish concept reimagined for a sit-down dining format alongside City Roots' existing plant-based menus.
City Roots has indicated the acquisition is a foundational step rather than a final one, with the group citing potential plans to expand Fysh Foods' presence beyond its current New York City footprint as City Roots continues to grow its restaurant portfolio. Specific timelines and locations for that expansion have not yet been announced.
The deal is also notable within the broader creator economy: while a number of influencer-founded food and beverage brands have been acquired by CPG companies and private equity firms in recent years, Fysh Foods' acquisition by a restaurant group marks one of the first times a creator-led food brand has moved directly into a restaurant portfolio, rather than staying in retail or e-commerce.
For Biglary, the deal marks the close of one chapter and the start of another. Best known to her audience for her digital content and as the author of the book It's Not a Big Deal, Biglary built Fysh Foods alongside — not instead of — her platform, treating the brand as the most public, highest-stakes extension of the values she talks about in her content.
"The most important thing a founder should know is when to let someone else take the wheel. Chef Vaknin has the momentum, experience and team needed to catapult Fysh Foods to the next level. I can't wait to watch it happen." Biglary added.
The acquisition closed in August 2026 in a cash deal. Purchase price was not disclosed.
About Fysh Foods Founded in 2022 by Zoya Biglary, Fysh Foods is a plant-based raw fish brand built to replicate the texture and flavor of sushi-grade seafood without the fish. Bootstrapped from launch with no outside investment, Fysh Foods grew into one of the category's first entrants in plant-based raw seafood before its acquisition by City Roots.
About City Roots City Roots is a New York City-based restaurant group led by chef Guy Vaknin, focused on premium plant-forward dining across its portfolio of restaurants.
Contact Info:
Name: Guy Vaknin
Email: Send Email
Organization: City Roots | Fysh Foods
Address: New York City, NY
Website: http://Fyshfoods.com
Release ID: 89202079
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