Entrepreneurs Kadeesha and Antoine Wiggins are making their dreams a reality.
The couple turned founders created Burgeezy, the first Black-owned plant-based burger restaurant in Indianapolis, IN.
“We found ourselves eating the same things over and over, cooking the same things over and over,” Kadeesha told WRTV. “But we were also getting compliments, like tons of compliments from friends and family about what we were cooking. So eventually, we were like, ‘look, we just gonna step out on faith.'”
A visit to Denver, CO, solidified opening an Indianapolis-based restaurant was the right move.
“We went to Denver a few years back, and the amount of vegan restaurants that they had blew my mind — because we were new vegans at the time — so you know, coming from Indiana where you have maybe three or four spots, and then going somewhere where there’s dozens, it kind of just made us feel like this is a need,” Kadeesha explained to WRTV.
The Wiggins launched Burgeezy in 2021 and operated from commercial space “Indy’s Kitchen” for nine months, per WISH-TV.
The founders would then receive a chance to open a brick-and-mortar shop after participating in the Be Nimble Foundation’s Melon Ghost Kitchen Accelerator program, according to the outlet. They received two $5,000 grants and a $50,000 investment from Be Nimble Foundation’s Nile Capital fund, among other resources.
On Sept. 9, 2023, they celebrated the opening of their new location on Canal Walk.
In the future, Kadeesha says they plan on opening additional locations in the Indianapolis area, then expanding to different cities across the United States. However, currently, they’re focused on building where they’re at.
“As of right now, obviously we want to make this the best location and then continue to expand and duplicate what we do here,” Kadeesha expressed, according to WISH-TV.
